Black & White Tales: To the Isshu Region!
by Loveon
Summary: Brendan and Pearl are sent to the Isshu region to do research on the Pokémon there. In order to do so, they'll be traveling around the entire region! With far too many people to travel with, and with Team Plasma constantly appearing, it won't be easy.
1. Prologue: To the Isshu Region!

Author's Notes: Yes! Time for the sequel of a sequel! It's Black and White based! Um... you don't really need to have read the previous stories, since the beginning of this chapter pretty much tells you... stuff. If that makes sense. I've been looking up videos of the games on Youtube, and I've been translating a bunch of parts... You won't be seeing these translated parts until about the fourth chapter, though.

So, on with the story!

Oh, one more thing. The character Pearl in this story _isn't_ a fan-made character, but rather the Pokémon character Crystal. So, uh, yeah.

**EDIT (03/06/11): **I've rewritten the prologue now. It's a bit better than the original, in my opinion. So, uh, yeah...

* * *

Prologue

"Now, make sure you call me when you get there, got it?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Make sure you have everything! Okay?"

"Yes, yes, we heard you."

"All right, then… Let's go!"

Slamming the wooden door shut, a man wearing a Hawaiian-print shirt and shorts stepped out. He really shouldn't have been wearing those shorts, but it didn't particularly matter to him what he wore. "Whoa! It's a greaaattt day!" he shouted, and began hurrying off to where a jeep was in front of the little house.

"…Please, don't do that in front of people, Dad," one of two kids inside the jeep said. She sighed, shaking her head around. She was wearing a white tank top, her brown hair pulled into low hanging pigtails. She was also sitting in the front seat, to avoid damage to the kid sitting in the back seat. "Also, why'd you just give us that whole checking thing if _YOU'RE COMING WITH US_?"

"Because I wanted to, that's why!" was the man's answer. Instead of being civilized and opening up the car door to get inside, he jumped over it, nearly kicking the girl in the head. "Whoops, sorry, Pearl! Brendan, you're buckled up too, right?"

The boy in the backseat grimaced, tugging at the buckle around his waist. "More or less. If I die today, I want you to keep my room the way it is."

"And I'd like you to cremate my body," the girl, Pearl, said, tugging on her own seat belt. Who knew: it might snap due to the ride ahead of them.

"Alrighty, then! Let's get this baby gooooiiinnngg!" the man shouted. He turned the jeep on, revving it up a bit just to show up, and then the jeep lurched forwards, hitting top speed in less than a few seconds. The two children screamed the entire way, holding onto the seats for their dear lives.

"We're never gonna make it to Isshu alive!" Brendan screamed.

"I WISH I HAD SOME STOMACH MEDICINE!" Pearl shrieked.

A while ago, at the start of summer, several sleep-deprived professors were holding a meaningless meeting when they suddenly got a phone call from a woman who claimed to be a professor in a far-away region, called the Isshu region. The woman said that she'd been trying to contact the professors for a long time, but to no avail. Finally, she'd managed to do just that.

After this contact, the professors decided to gather up the trainers they thought should know about this, where they decided to send some of them to the Isshu region for research.

The first option to go was Green Oak, one of the professor's grandson. However, because he was a Gym Leader, they decided that he'd be too busy with his job to go… Which was a lie since he left his gym a lot, but it didn't matter.

The second choice to go was Pearl and Brendan Birch, the children of Professor Birch. Since they didn't have any time-consuming occupations, they were chosen to go to the Isshu region in September.

…And their father, Professor Birch, abruptly decided to go along with them. Which would defeat the purpose of their going, but he didn't really care.

He'd much rather prefer to see things himself than stay locked up in his lab, much like the other fellow professors he knew. Professor Birch liked to hide out in the woods, watching Pokémon in their natural habitats. Taking precautions to not getting caught by the Pokémon, such as camouflaging himself? Yeah, right. No way.

And it was because of that that he'd been, on more than one occasion, attacked by wild Pokémon, who would proceed to kick his ass to Kanto and back. He never seemed to learn his lesson, though, and he just kept coming back for more.

This… is the start of a new adventure!


	2. Chapter One

Author's Notes: I've rewritten this chapter as of March 12, 2011. I'll probably be rewriting all the next chapters, too, because they suck. You'll know when it's been rewritten because I'll change the author's notes to mention such. Also, all because I'm rewriting the chapters doesn't mean I'm not going to not update the story. So, uh, yeah.

Also, Touko and Touya are the Japanese names of Hilda and Hilbert. I'll say this, though: there's no way in hell that I'm going to change every single name in the story to match their current ones, because it would be both too much work and because I'm a lazy sack of-

ALSO! Here's an interesting bit of trivia. I used a stopwatch on my cell phone, and timed the time it took for the player character to run/walk (no bike) from Hiun to Kanoko. It took about 3 1/2 minutes, so I changed that time to be 3 1/2 hours in the story.

* * *

Chapter One

"Ohhhh, it's so nice to finally be off that plane!" Pearl said happily, stretching out her arms as she walked down onto the crowded pier. The plane they were on had somehow managed to land on the water, and people on the plane were getting off.

And, if the flight attendants had spoken true, they'd landed in Hiun City.

"Yeah? Well, at least _you_ didn't get drooled on by Dad," Brendan muttered. He glanced down at his black shirt, where there was an even darker black spot on it. He didn't dare to touch it: it was _spit_, of all things.

"Good point. Suck it up, be a man."

"We all know _you're_ the man in the relationship."

Pearl looked at Brendan the way someone would look at a fly flying around their food. She probably would've smacked him, if it weren't for the man near them…

"WOOHOO! Take a look at this plane! How about that, huh? How _does_ it keep itself on the water?"

"Dad, please don't do that again," Pearl simply said. "Also, it stays on the water for the same reason it stays in the air."

"Yeah, well… That's why I didn't become a mechanic, or go through those physics classes and stuff. I don't understand any of that. That's why I became a professor instead!"

"That's some kind of miracle in itself."

"Yeah, I have to agree with you on that," Professor Birch replied with a solemn nod. He glanced towards the city ahead of them and squealed like a little girl, charging towards it. Tall buildings rose high up, and lots of people were hurrying around. It was definitely a city, in every sense of the word. "Whoa, take a look at this city! It makes Slateport and Lilycove look like tiny towns!"

"And it makes Littleroot look like a bumpkin village," Brendan muttered under his breath. Pearl snorted, covering her mouth before she started laughing hysterically.

Pearl began looking around then, taking a look at the people hurrying by them. There were lots of women and men dressed in uniforms, and there was occasionally a kid with their parents passing by as well.

"HEYYY GUYYYSSS!"

Pearl blinked in surprise at the sound of a girl's voice piercing through the sound of the people's chattering. She began looking around, though not because she thought the person was calling out to her, but because Pearl was a nosy girl who liked to stick her nose into other people's business.

But, much to her surprise, the girl shouting was actually shouting to them. Pearl found this out when she turned around and saw a girl standing in front of her, a grin on her face.

The girl's brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and she had a pink and white baseball cap on. She was wearing a white tank top with a sleeveless black jacket over it. Her shorts were so short that… there was no other words for them.

"Are you guys the Birch family?" the girl asked, practically grinning from ear to ear.

"What if I said we weren't?"

"Also," Brendan interrupted, "when you say Birch family, you make us sound like we're some kind of species of-"

Before Brendan could finish, and before Pearl could say anything else, Professor Birch had appeared behind them and put his hands over their mouths, so they couldn't talk. "Yes! We're the Birch family! And you are…?"

"I'm Touko!" the girl answered happily. "It's nice to meet you guys! I was sent here by Professor Araragi, to come and pick you up!"

"Well," Pearl began, pushing her father's hand off her face, "I'm Pearl, and this is my brother, Brendan. And this is my father!"

"You're only going to call me 'my father?'" Professor Birch quietly asked. He shook his head, and held out a hand to Touko. "In any case, I'm Birch! Dan Birch, the professor of the Hoenn region!"

Touko shook his hand. "Yes, I already know everything about you! Professor Araragi told me. She's very excited to meet you three, but she couldn't personally come here because she's straightening up the lab back in Kanoko Town. So she sent me instead!"

"That's nice and all," Brendan said and pointed at someplace behind Touko. "But who's that?"

A boy stood behind Touko, his messy brown hair covered up by a black and red baseball cap. He held a cardboard container that had five blue ice cream cones in it.

"Oh, there you are, Touya!" Touko said quickly, like he was just a minor thing and that his presence was meaningless. Touko sighed, turning back to the three others. "Guys, this is Touya. His special ability is going unnoticed in places where he should be noticed. Also, Touya…" She stopped to look back at the boy. "How long have you been standing there?"

The boy, Touya, frowned, looking down at the ground and grumbling, "Ever since you started talking to them. I've been here the entire time."

"Oh, that's nice," Touko quickly said, looking back at Professor Birch, Pearl, and Brendan. "Anyways, let's get going! We have a long way to walk!… Oh, hey, look! Ice cream!" She looked back at where Touya held the ice cream, and took the container out of his hands. "Let's eat it along the way! I wonder who bought it…"

As Touko began practically skipping off with Pearl and Professor Birch following her quickly, Brendan reached out to put a hand on Touya's shoulder. "Life must be tough for you, man."

"Tell me about it," Touya muttered as he and Brendan hurried after them.

…But little did they know that there was a sixth person following after them.

* * *

Nearly three and a half hours later, the five of them arrived in Kanoko Town. The town itself was tiny, with grass flowing everywhere, and green trees surrounded the town. There were a couple of houses, and there was an even bigger building there, with a sign out front that read "Araragi Pokémon Research Lab."

Professor Birch decided that he was going to go introduce himself to Professor Araragi first, leaving Touko, Touya, Brendan, and Pearl behind.

"Hmm… well, since we have some free time…" Touko began and looked back at Pearl and Brendan. "Let's go visit Cheren and Belle! I think you'd like to meet them!"

Pearl nodded. "Okay!… But first, can I ask a favor of you…?"

"What? You need to go to the bathroom? We can stop by my place, then…"

"…Uh, no," Pearl answered, looking at Touko like there was something wrong with her head. "But… you have Pokémon, don't you? Can I… see it?"

"Oho, you want to see my Pokémon, huh?" Touko started laughing for no apparent reason, and then pointed up towards the sky. "Fine! I'll show you my Pokémon… the one that will burst through the heavens!"

Touya leaned over and whispered to Brendan, "She's been watching anime again."

Touko had taken a small, marble sized red and white ball out of her pocket, and pressed a button on it. It suddenly enlarged, becoming the size of an orange, and then Touko pressed the same button on the ball, holding it away from herself. The ball opened up, and in a flash of white light, out came a small, green, lizard-like Pokémon. It looked rather smug, and full of itself.

"…Oh," Brendan simply said and pointed at it. "It's Smugleaf."

The Pokémon glared at Brendan, and then sniffed and turned away, running towards Touko and climbing up her, hopping up to hold onto her shoulder. It still glared at Brendan from its perch on Touko's shoulder, and so Brendan returned the glare.

"Guess I'll show you my Pokémon, too," Touya said. He also took out a Poké Ball, held it away from himself, and pressed the button. It opened up, and a flash of light came out, taking a shape of what looked like an otter and disappeared.

The otter-like Pokémon landed on the ground, spinning around and taking off the little shell it had on its chest. It waved the shell around, like it was greeting them, and said, "_Miju_!"

"This is Mijumaru, my first Pokémon," Touya simply said. "Come on, Mijumaru! We're heading to Cheren's place."

Mijumaru nodded, hurrying over to Touya and jumping up, landed perfectly on his shoulder. Touko suddenly gasped, and took a step back, pointing at Mijumaru and Touya.

"Oh, my god!… That Mijumaru's floating!"

Touya could only sigh and shake his head in response to this. Brendan reached out to pat his shoulder reassuringly, and Pearl had started talking to Touko: "Let's get going! Whose house first… Cheren or Belle?"

"I say Cheren's house first," Touko answered. She pointed off towards one of the few houses there. "His house is right over there. So, let's get going!"

Touko and Pearl began walking off towards the house, and Touya and Brendan scrambled after them, having not been listening to their conversation.

As the four of them walked to the house, Touko and Pearl talked with each other and Touya and Brendan did the same. It was almost like they were pretending the opposite gender wasn't there as they had conversations with each other…

Eventually, they came to a stop in front of one of the houses, a two-story, cream-colored house. The roof was blue, and the other houses around looked exactly the same.

"Ooookaaay!" Touko sang out. "Let's meet Cheren!" Touko promptly began knocking on the door continuously, not bothering to pause even for a moment. "Knock-knock, Cheren, you there~?"

The door almost immediately opened, but only just a crack. A chain was locking the door from the inside, but someone's face peeked through the opened door… Just a single, gray-colored eye, however. The person then shut the door, and the sound of the chain being undone could be heard, and then the door opened up completely.

A boy stood there, probably around the same age as Touko and Touya. He had black hair, and a really big forehead. Red glasses were on his face, falling down his nose, and he instantly pushed the glasses back up. "Oh, it's just you guys."

"Who'd you think it was, huh?"

The boy seemed to consider telling them, but he just shook his head and said, "Never mind. What do you guys want…?" He trailed off as he noticed Pearl and Brendan standing behind Touko and Touya. "…Who're those people?"

"They're the foreigners that the professor told us about!" Touko exclaimed. "The girl is Brendan, and the boy is Pearl!"

"No, no, no!" Pearl interrupted, shaking her head around and stepping forwards. She pointed at her and said, "_I'm_ Pearl, and _he's_ Brendan. Anyways, it's very nice to meet you…?"

"This is Cheren," Touko answered in place of the boy, who seemed like he was about to introduce himself when Touko interrupted. "He's been my friend since forever."

The boy, Cheren, pushed his glasses up again for no apparent reason. "That's right, I'm Cheren. We've heard quite a lot about you, Pearl and Brendan Birch… and it seems like Touko is still ignoring Touya?"

Touko blinked in surprise. "Who's Touya?"

"Yeah, I guess that answers my question. Anyways, it's nice to meet you two. I'll be seeing you soon, probably. For now, though, good-bye."

And so, Cheren stepped back and closed the door. They could hear him putting the chain back in place on the door, and so Touko instantly grabbed the doorknob and began shaking it around, screaming nonsensical words while Cheren yelled for her to quit it.

However, they'd yet to realized that the person from Hiun City had followed them all the way to Kanoko Town…


	3. Chapter Two

Author's Notes: Professor Araragi is introduced in this chapter! By the way... She uses the word "ara ara" a lot, which would translate best as "Oh my" or "my, my".

Also, the character Danny in this chapter... is my own original character. Um, yeah.

* * *

Chapter Two

"Oh my! I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to have you all come in immediately! I needed to clean some things up, that's all!"

Finally, Brendan and Pearl were allowed to go in Professor Araragi's lab. And, well, it was lab-like. And clean, unlike their own father's lab, which was usually cluttered with papers.

"My name is Araragi," a woman said. Her blonde hair was twirled up into a ponytail, and she wore a short, green skirt, a white shirt, and a lab coat. "It's nice to meet you!"

And with that, Professor Araragi reached into her lab coat pocket, taking out four Poké Balls. "And now… let's show you some of the Isshu region's Pokémon!"

Four Pokémon came out, two of which Brendan and Pearl recognized; one was a Tsutarja, the other Mijumaru, the third was a pig-like one, and the fourth looked like an overly-furry chinchilla.

"This one's Tsutarja, this is Mijumaru, this one is Pokabu, and this one is Chillarmy. And…"

Professor Araragi stopped her talking to look up at them. She pointed to the area behind them and said…

"…Is that, um, a friend of yours? I only heard about three people coming today… Not that I mind, of course, but…"

Brendan and Pearl looked behind themselves to see a girl with long, pale blonde hair. Wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt and a skirt with black tights and boots. Currently, the girl had out a cell phone and was taking pictures of the Pokémon.

"Ah… Yeah, sorry! Um, she's, uh, Jane!"

The girl looked up at them for a moment but then continued to take pictures.

"Right… Anyways, if you'd like, you can have one of these Pokémon. Actually, you can't have the Chillarmy; that one's my own personal friend."

"Nah, I've got my own Pokémon…" Brendan answered sheepishly. Pearl was currently entranced with the otter Pokémon, Mijumaru, but she managed to shake her head in a 'no' motion.

"Okay then! Well, uh…" Professor Araragi trailed off as both Brendan and Pearl grabbed "Jane" by her arms and dragged her out of the lab.

Once they were outside, they let her go. And then proceeded to interrogate like the professional officers they were.

"Okay, we covered for you, but seriously! Who the heck are you?"

"Oh, I appreciated you guys covering for me! Um, can I go back in? I wanna take more photos!"

"Not until you answer our questions!"

The girl pouted for a couple of seconds, but then began to talk. "Fine. My name's Danny. Um… Can I go back in now?"

"No! Why the heck did you follow us in there? The professor doesn't even know who you are!"

"Well, duh, she doesn't know; she's never seen me before."

Brendan smacked his forehead dramatically. "That's not what I meant!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Danny laughed a bit before continuing to talk, "Um, well… I heard you guys talk about, um, a professor… So I wanted to come see, because I wanted to see the Pokémon she had."

"Wait… What?"

"Back in, uh, Hiun City, I heard you guys!"

"All the way back there?"

"Yeah! Totally!"

Both Brendan and Pearl frowned and looked at each other. Why was it that this girl reminded them of someone in particular…?

And so, the three of them walked back into the lab, grinning as if their conversation hadn't happened at all.

"Um, welcome back!" Professor Araragi greeted them. "Anyways, uh, Jane, would you like one of these Pokémon?"

Danny "Jane" looked extremely ecstatic, as if she might faint at any moment. "R-really?"

"Yes, go ahead!"

Danny bent down to look at the three Pokémon carefully. "S-so… cute…"

And after about 5 minutes, Danny finally chose the one she wanted.

"I'll go with Pokabu!"

"Okay then!" And with that, Professor Araragi returned all the Pokémon to their Poké Balls, and handed Danny the one with Pokabu in it. "Make sure you take care of it!"

"Of course! Thank you so much!"

* * *

"I'm so happy, I could just die!" Danny said happily, currently squeezing the crap out of her Pokabu. "I should give you a nickname! Oh, but are you a guy or a girl…? Oh, oh! Definitely a guy, there's no mistaking that."

The three were sitting at a table in Professor Araragi's lab, food set out at three places for them. Professor Birch was off doing who knows what (best bet was that he was running around outside like a Wildman.)

"Okay… I'll call you Fire Pig!"

Brendan slammed his head down on the table, rattling the forks, spoons, and plates.

"Something wrong, white-haired kid?" Danny asked; both she and her Pokabu were looking at him. And she apparently didn't know his name at all.

"It's… nothing…" Brendan grumbled, sitting back up and rubbing his forehead. "By the way, my name's Brendan, not white-haired kid."

"And I'm Pearl," Pearl added.

Danny looked at them both for a moment and then nodded, grinning. "Okay, I've got it memorized!"

Fire Pig snorted loudly, apparently in agreement to what Danny had said.

"So, Danny… Um, do you live in Isshu?"

"Sure!"

"…Sure? Does that mean you do or you don't?"

"It means that I suppose I could live in Isshu, but I might not live in it."

"Wait, what?"

Danny quickly stopped listening to Pearl and Brendan, holding out a piece of the food she was eating to Fire Pig, who ate it happily.

At that, Professor Araragi came into the room the three were in. "Oh my, it appears as if Professor Birch isn't here! Do you happen to know where he is?"

Just then, something slammed on the roof of the building, and then apparently rolled off the roof and crashed down to the ground below. The four of them looked over at the window where they'd just seen a flash of color fall past it.

"I'd bet anything that that was him," Pearl said.

Professor Araragi walked over to the window, opening it up and peeking outside. "…Hello?… Oh, my!"

"What, is Dad not wearing any clothes again? I hope not…"

Professor Araragi shook her head, looking back at them. "…It's a little girl!"

"I'm not a little girl!" the person shouted and jumped up from the ground, branches and twigs sticking out of her black hair. She had dark skin, and wore a yellow and pink shirt with a pink skirt and white tights.

"Fifty million Mijumarus says you are a kid," Brendan commented.

"I. AM. NOT!"

"Reaallly? I think you are!"

"I am not, I am not, I am not!"

"The fact that you're getting so angry about it shows that you are a kid."

"Oh, whatever!" she snapped. And with that, she jumped through the open window, walking into the area and looking around. "Anyways… I'm hungry, can I have some of that food?"

"Hell no. Well, if you admit you're a kid, I migghhhtt give you some."

"I'll never admit it! I'm not that hungry, anyways! There's plenty of berries outside, I won't starve!"

"Suit yourself."

"Um, anyways," Professor Araragi said slowly, looking at all of them carefully, "Who are you, little girl?"

"What'd you call me?"

"I meant, uh, who are you… miss?"

The girl crossed her arms across her chest, nodding a couple of times. "Thank you, thank you! I'm Iris! Let's see… What was I here for…?"

"The kid forgot what she came here for."

"I'm not a kid, how many times do I have to repeat that?" Iris snapped and then looked away from Brendan in an attempt to ignore him. "I remember now! Professor Araragi, I-"

At that, Iris stopped talking to glare at the other three sitting at the table. "…Actually, the conversation I need to have with you isn't appropriate for these kiddies. Let's go in another room!"

"You know," Brendan began and pointed at her. "Not only could that comment be taken in a lot of different ways, but you're also a kid."

Iris seemed to be getting more and more angry from Brendan's comments and Professor Araragi took this opportunity to get Iris out of the room.

"Let's go into my lab first, okay, Iris?"

Iris stopped getting angry to look up at Professor Araragi and nod happily. "Yeah! Let's go!"

And as the two left the room, Brendan shouted out, just for the heck of it…

"See you later, kid!"

Iris could be heard having a fit, screaming and shouting at Brendan from down the hallway.


	4. Chapter Three

Author's Notes: Rewritten as of April 3rd.

* * *

Chapter Three

"…She's gone. She must've left while we were asleep."

Super Detective Brendan managed to deduce that by the fact that, when they woke up that morning, Danny was gone. Fire Pig and all.

"Well, maybe she just went out for a bit!" Pearl suggested hopefully.

And yet, they both knew that wasn't so. Danny wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. Professor Araragi had yet to wake up, so they weren't going to tell her just yet…

So they opted to go search for Danny themselves.

As they exited the lab and began to wander around Kanoko Town, they saw several bird Pokémon they'd never seen before; small and gray, with puffy chests. They looked a bit like pigeons.

"So… so CUTE!" Pearl squealed like a little girl and ran after the birds, who all flew up in the air to escape from her wrath. Well, _almost_ all of them; one continued to hop around on the ground, pecking at the dirt.

Pearl crept up to it, slowly, and soon she was close enough to it that she could grab it in her hands… It showed no reaction whatsoever, continuing to peck the dirt without a single clue.

And then, suddenly, it looked up at her.

It blinked once. Just once. And continued to look at her. Pearl didn't move, not an inch, and she didn't even blink…

Everything was silent. Brendan watched the scene with a blank face and occasionally checked an imaginary watch.

"…Brendan," Pearl finally whispered, holding out her hand. "Hand me a Poké Ball. I have to catch it."

"What the hell do I look like, the Poké Ball manager? Go pull one out of your ass."

Pearl would've glared at him, but she was afraid that if she did, the Pokémon would fly away. Well, if she couldn't use a Poké Ball, that left the only other option… It may be dangerous, and it may be life threatening, but Pearl didn't care. She was going to catch this Pokémon no matter what.

Pearl dove towards it and snatched it up, holding onto the pigeon Pokémon tightly. However, it made no attempt to struggle to get away.

…It just cheeped.

"…There's something wrong with that Pokémon," Brendan simply said. He then gaily flipped his hair. "So it's a perfect match for you!"

"What was that, you little brat?"

"Ahahah, nothing!"

Suddenly, the two stopped talking as they heard a noise in the distance… It sounded like someone talking. And because they were super spies, they decided to run towards the voice.

Peeking around the corner of Professor Araragi's lab, they spotted Danny, talking on the cell phone she had used to take pictures the previous day. Fire Pig stood next to her, watching her intently, and then it noticed Pearl and Brendan. So it started noisily oinking.

"Buuu! Buuuuuu!"

Danny looked down at Fire Pig, and then followed where it was looking. Pearl and Brendan hadn't been smart enough to hide behind the building, so they were immediately caught.

"…I've got to go, bye!" she said and closed her phone. Danny then proceeded to walk towards them casually, as if they hadn't been watching her at all.

"Hey, good morning!"

"Sorry for being nosy but…" Pearl pointed at the phone in Danny's hand. "Who're you talking to?"

"Oh, it was my cousin! I figured I'd call her, but she didn't answer, so I had to leave a message…"

"…Oh. Is that so…?"

"Yep! That's so! Say, what's it with the bird? It hasn't even blinked! Is it a doll?"

"Um… no, it's not. I, uh, picked it up. While it sat there."

"It doesn't have much of a brain, apparently," Brendan interrupted. He gaily flipped his hair again. "Thus, it's a perfect match for Pearl!"

Pearl kicked Brendan in the back of his legs, and Brendan fell to the ground in pain. Danny stared at him blankly, the bird Pokémon just did nothing, and Fire Pig looked at Brendan in concern for his legs.

* * *

"Oh my, I'm so sorry!" Professor Araragi apologized a couple of times, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. "I'm a heavy sleeper, and nothing wakes me up until I'm ready to get up!"

The girl from the night before, Iris, stood next to Professor Araragi, nodding her head a couple of times in agreement. "Yep, yep!

"Don't worry, Iris," Brendan said with a grin. "When I was a kid, I slept in late just like you!"

Iris began to shout and scream at Brendan, who seemed to be enjoying this a little too much. Meanwhile, Professor Araragi had begun to talk to Pearl, since she seemed to be the only one who'd listen.

"Any idea where your father is? He didn't come back last night and he isn't here right now…"

"It's fine," Pearl answered with a wave of her hand. "He'll come back soon. He hates sitting inside. He likes running around and being out in the wild more than sitting around inside his lab. Best bet is that he's camping out in a tree. Or the wild Pokémon ate him."

Professor Araragi seemed unfazed by the 'or the wild Pokémon ate him' comment. "Is that so? Well then… Maybe you should go around with Touko and Touya today?"

"That's a great idea!… Which reminds me. Why does Touko pretend Touya isn't around at all?"

"Hm… I don't really know…" Professor Araragi glanced over at Iris and Brendan. Iris was still screaming at Brendan, and Brendan looked particularly proud of something.

"I am not a kid!" Iris screamed.

"How much do you weigh?"

"Huh? 85 pounds!"

"85 pounds, huh…? That makes you a kid!"

"Gah! No, I'm not! Professor, make him stop it!"

"Aw, you're bonding. I shouldn't interrupt your bonding."

And this entire time, Danny sat on the floor with Fire Pig and Pearl's weird bird Pokémon, which Professor Araragi had said was a Mamepato. Pearl gave Danny permission to name it, so it's name for the time being is "Ditzy Bird".

Ditzy Bird still hadn't blinked, or even moved… It looked like something was wrong with it, and it looked more like a stone statue than a living, breathing Pokémon. But then, exactly every 10 minutes, it would blink just once. Only once. And then it would be still again.

It had an awesome poker face. In Danny's own silent opinion.

* * *

"And so, today we're going to go visit Belle!" Touko announced happily. Hands on her hips, she was waiting outside of Professor Araragi's lab with Brendan, who'd been kicked out by Iris, who'd finally been angered to her breaking point. Brendan was feeling especially proud of himself for his good deeds. Pearl, on the other hand, was still inside, getting ready for nothing in particular. She was just a typical girl.

"Yeah, but…" Touya frowned and pointed at Danny, who was sitting on the steps outside the lab with Fire Pig and Ditzy Bird. She was poking the bird Pokémon in various locations, but the Mamepato seemed undisturbed by its body probing. "…Who's that?"

"That's our stalker," Brendan explained, completely calm about it. "She's been following us since Hiun City."

"Oh. I see," Touko answered with the same kind of calmness as Brendan. Touya, on the other hand, wasn't taking it as calmly as the other two…

"S-stalker? Why are you letting her stay with you if she's a stalker?"

"Don't worry. She's a harmless stalker. She just wanted a Pokémon."

"I love Fire Pig!" Danny said out of the blue, interrupting her Mamepato probing to pick up the pig Pokémon and hug him tightly. Fire Pig's eyes seemed to bulge out as she hugged him, but that might've just been Brendan's imagination.

"She named it Fire Pig?" Touya asked. He still looked at Danny unsurely. "That's… Wait a sec, if she stalked us back to Kanoko Town just for a Pokémon… doesn't that-"

"That's so creative!" Touko interrupted him. Hopping over to Danny, she clasped her hands together and said, "You should totally name my Pokémon!"

Touya grumbled something under his breath about Touko being an idiot when Pearl finally came out of the lab, fixing the hat she wore on her head.

…She'd changed her entire outfit from the one she'd been wearing the previous day.

Pearl wore a white, cap-like hat with a yellow ribbon on it, her white jacket was buttoned together and a blue vest could be seen underneath the jacket. She also wore yellow shorts that were short enough to rival Touko's.

"Where'd you steal that outfit from?" was the first thing out of Brendan's mouth.

"Shut it, Brendan."

Touko had begun to clap her hands loudly, saying, "That outfit looks great!"

"Aww, thanks!"

"Anyways, we should get going," Brendan interrupted the two squealing teenage girls. "Should we go pick up that Cheren guy first?"

Touko nodded, already skipping away as she shouted, "Yep! Let's go to his house first!"

The group of five walked off south from Professor Araragi's lab, heading towards Cheren's house. It didn't take them too long to find it again, and when they knocked on the door, a similar scene from the previous day occurred…

Cheren opened the door slightly, his eye peeking through, and then he opened the door wider. He was already dressed, and he stepped out of the house and closed the door behind him.

"You know…" he began as they started walking off towards Belle's house, which was nearby. "Belle's father really hates us. As soon as he finds out that it's us, he won't let us see Belle."

"That's okay!" Touko exclaimed and put her arms around Danny, Brendan, and Pearl's shoulders. "We have these three! He doesn't know who they are, so we just have to plan it out!"

Cheren looked at Danny for a moment and said, "…Who's she?"

"Her name's Danny."

"Yep!" Danny grinned, holding Fire Pig under one arm and Ditzy Bird under the other, almost like they were luggage. "This is Fire Pig! And this one's Ditzy Bird; it's Pearl's, but Pearl let me name him."

Cheren was probably wondering where the hell Danny came up with those names as they stopped in front of another house.

"Okay, Danny!" Touko said and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You go first, 'kay? Ask to see Belle, 'kay?"

With a nod, Danny walked up to the door. The others all hid around a corner of the house, listening as Danny knocked on the door.

A brown-haired man answered it. "…What is it?"

"Hi, could I please talk to Belle?"

"…Who're you?"

With a grin that stretched out across the world, Danny answered…

"A stalker!"

He shut the door in her face. Danny looked over at the others with a frown, looking rather disappointed. "What'd I do wrong?"

Brendan and Touko were laughing hysterically, Pearl was just shocked at Danny's bluntness, and Touya and Cheren were both shaking their heads.


	5. Chapter Four

Author's Notes: Rewritten as of April 3rd.

* * *

Chapter Four

While Pearl, Touya, and Cheren started to lecture Danny on not greeting someone with that line, the door to the house opened, and they abruptly went silent to turn around and look at the house. A girl was stepping out, and the man's voice could be heard shouting…

"Belle, you are _not_ going out there! Get back in here!"

"NEVERRRR!"

With a slam of the door, the girl who walked out turned around to face them. Her blonde hair was covered up by a green beret she wore. She pulled her hat down for a moment, mumbled something, and then looked back up at them, grinning.

"Let's go! To Professor Araragi's place!" she said happily. But then, she frowned and looked at all of them, looking confused. "…Wait a sec… Something doesn't seem right… Why are there… three more people…?"

"My name's Pearl," Pearl introduced herself before the girl would start going crazy about the three extra people. She pointed at Brendan and Danny. "And these two are Brendan and Danny. By the way, Danny's the idiot who just told that guy that she was your stalker."

"…Oh!" The girl looked at Pearl for a moment, and then at Brendan and Danny. "I'm Belle. So, let's get going to Professor Araragi's place!" Raising her hands in the air, Belle seemed to have recovered from her momentary confusion, now ecstatic about going to the professor's lab.

And they did just that, heading off back towards the building at the north of the town.

When they finally reached the lab and walked inside, Professor Araragi was there to greet them.

"Hi! I was waiting for you, young girls and young boys!" she said with a wink. "I'll introduce myself! My name is…"

"…Professor Araragi? We already know your name."

"Jeez! Cheren, just let me be cool for once!" Professor Araragi started to pout, crossing her arms across her chest and sticking out her bottom lip. "It's a special day, right? So let me act cool!"

Cheren rolled his eyes. "Anyways, what're we here for?"

"And what kind of special day is it?" Brendan mumbled.

"Anyways, all of you!… What's everyone here for again?"

Cheren sighed. "A Pokédex."

Belle looked confused and asked, "…Pokédex?"

Professor Araragi began clapping. "Amazing, amazing! As expected of Cheren! Now, do you know what a Pokédex is?"

"It's basically an encyclopedia of all Pokémon seen and captured. You can also check on your own Pokémon's status and moves."

"Great, great! Cheren has 2 points so far!"

"Points?" Danny and Belle both asked excitedly. "I didn't know we were playing a game! Next question, next question!"

"There's no more questions left."

Danny and Belle became depressed. However, they immediately perked up when Professor Araragi walked over to a desk where there were Pokédexs. Three of them were red and black, and the other four were gray and pink.

"Alright! One for each of you!"

Professor Araragi handed the red ones to the boy and the pink ones to the girls. Danny and Belle were both squealing happily at each other, although they weren't really saying anything and just squealing… at each other.

"You'll need to start it up and enter your information in it. Don't forget to do that!" Professor Araragi said. "And now, for the next step! Catching Pokémon! I'll be waiting for you guys out on Route 1, okay?"

And with that, Professor Araragi walked past them and left the building, presumably to go to Route 1.

"Okay, let's go!" Belle shouted happily and hurried out of the lab. Touko followed after her quickly, as well as Danny, leaving the other four behind.

Cheren sighed. "I guess we have to follow them."

"I already know how to catch Pokémon…" Pearl mumbled.

"Whatever. Let's go," Brendan said and walked out of the lab. The other three simply shrugged and followed after him…

* * *

Route 1 was the north exit of Kanoko Town. Trees and grass lined the path, and the smell of flowers and other scents filled the air. Professor Araragi was already there, waiting for them with her hands in her lab coat's pockets.

"Sorry for making you wait, Professor Araragi," Cheren said as they approached her.

She nodded. "And now, we'll start our capture lesson!"

With that, Professor Araragi began walking through the tall grass that was ahead of her. She only walked a couple of steps when a Pokémon suddenly jumped out of the grass at her. It was a chipmunk-like Pokémon with a tail that looked like someone stuck it in an electrical socket.

"Pearl, Brendan!" Professor Araragi called out. "This here Pokémon is Minezumi! Remember that, okay?"

"Roger that, captain!" Brendan answered and saluted. Pearl elbowed him in the side for no apparent reason.

Professor Araragi tossed a Poké Ball in the air, letting out the Chillarmy they'd seen the day before. "Okay, Chillarmy, use Pound!"

"_Chi_!" Chillarmy answered back its trainer before running forwards to strike Minezumi with its fluffy, gray tail. Minezumi simply glared at Chillarmy, apparently trying to intimidate it. But there's only so much intimidation that a chipmunk can muster.

"Okay, guys! This is where you should through the Poké Ball at it, okay?" Professor Araragi called and reached into her pocket, taking out a Poké Ball. She then pulled her arm back and tossed it at the Pokémon; Minezumi was sucked into the ball, which fell down into the grass and began to rock back and forth a couple of times before stopping.

She picked up the Poké Ball and, with Chillarmy hopping up onto her shoulder, walked back to the group of kids.

"You guys saw that just now, right?"

"How couldn't we see it?" Brendan muttered. Pearl elbowed him in the side again.

A grin on her face, Professor Araragi continued talking… "When you try to capture a Pokémon, you need to get its health down a bit first; don't make it faint, though. You can check on your opponent's Pokémon's current health by pointing at it with your Pokédex."

Cheren seemed to be taking note of this, nodding in response to what she was saying. Danny and Belle were too busy getting excited about capturing Pokémon to listen.

"I wanna catch a Yorterrie!"

"I don't know what that is, but cool!"

"And so, for you guys to catch Pokémon… Poké Balls!" the professor continued, reaching into her pocket and handing each of them five, mini-sized Poké Balls.

"Damn, this professor is stocked up on _everything_," Brendan muttered. Needless to say, Pearl elbowed him again as she took the five marble sized Poké ball and put them into her pocket.

"And so, I'll be waiting for you guys at Karakusa Town, okay?"

"What? Why?"

But Professor Araragi didn't hear Brendan's logical question, having already whirled around and was walking away, her lab coat swaying behind her.

"Alright, guys, let's go!" Cheren said, glancing at them. "Remember, Pokémon appear in the tall grass!"

Belle gasped. "Pokémon appear in tall grass! I didn't hear the professor mention anything about that!"

"She didn't. I already knew it."

"Oh my god, Cheren! You're, like, a genius!"

No one bothered to comment on Belle's comment, and they started heading down the grassy route, all of them stopping occasionally for one reason or another. The three boys had already reached the end of the route, and because they were _such_ nice guys, they waited at the end of the route for the rest of the girls. But they really took their time getting there… and the three boys could only patiently wait.

Finally, the four of them gathered back where Cheren, Touya, and Brendan awaited them, pretending they hadn't been taking their time getting there.

"Well, let's hurry now!" Cheren ordered, pointing at the town in front of them. Buildings were everywhere, most of them a few stories high. "To Karakusa Town! The professor's waiting!"

"YEAH!"

And the seven of them headed into Karakusa Town.


	6. Chapter Five

Author's Notes: Rewritten as of April 3rd. I fixed Geechisu's speech a bit. CAUSEPOKEMONAREOURFREIDNSSAS!

* * *

Chapter Five

Professor Araragi was waiting for them in front of the Pokémon Center, and it was easy to spot her… After all, she was the only one there wearing a lab coat, so she stuck out like a sore thumb. As they walked over to her, she grinned and started talking.

"Hi, everyone!" She greeted them and pointed to the two-story building she was standing in front of. It had blue windows everywhere, and a red roof. Right above the automatic opening doors was a white Poké Ball printed there. "This is a Pokémon Center! It's a very important place for any and every trainer! Now, come on, follow me!"

"Don't tell me she's gonna give us a tour of the building…" Brendan muttered under his breath. Luckily, Pearl hadn't heard him this time and so he was spared an elbow in the side.

Professor Araragi and her group of children/students walked into the Pokémon Center; other trainers were in there, with their Pokémon. There was a flight of stairs going up to a second level, and halls stretched off into the other areas of the center.

The professor led them up to a circular counter area, where a woman with pink hair in a nurse's outfit stood.

"Pokémon Center nurse's will heal your Pokémon completely! Now, go on, all of you! Go heal your Pokémon!"

The nurse, smiling at them, took out several small trays with shapes for their Poké Balls. "All right, place your Poké Balls in the tray, okay?"

The seven trainers placed their Poké Balls in the tray, and the woman took the trays, placing them on a metal table.

At that, a pink Pokémon with big ears came out from the halls of the center and hurried over to the table, wheeling it away. It wore a nurse's hat, much like the nurse herself.

"What's that?" Danny asked excitedly.

"That's a Tabunne," Professor Araragi answered. "They're excellent nursing Pokémon."

The nurse began talking yet again, "We'll call your names when your Pokémon are healed. Until then, please wait patiently."

"Well, come on guys! I still have other things to show you!"

The professor walked over to where a PC was set up next to the counter. "This here is a PC. You can send your Pokémon to my lab through this. You can only have 6 at a time, so when you catch another one, it's automatically sent to me."

"How does something like that even happen?" Danny asked.

"Well, it's a long explanation, but simply put, your Pokédex automatically recognizes when you catch a seventh Pokémon and it sends it to me!"

"That… doesn't tell me much."

"It's hard to explain! Just think of it as advanced technology!"

Professor Araragi started walking away again, leading them to the bottom right corner of the Pokémon Center, where another counter was set up at; two young men stood there with smiles on their faces.

"This here is the Poké Mart! They sell lots of useful things for trainers like yourselves! I suggest you stock up on Poké Balls and medicine for your Pokémon! And so, those are the basic things you guys need to know about being trainers!" With that, the professor turned back to face them. "And now, I'll be going back to Kanoko Town… Oh! One final thing!

"If you go to Sanyou City, you should go find the inventor Makomo. She's a friend of mine and she'll have something helpful for your adventure!"

"Makomo, Makomo…" Pearl mumbled and then nodded. "Okay! I've got it memorized! Miss Makomo in Sanyou City, right?"

Professor Araragi nodded back at her. "That's right! And now… do your best, kids! I hope you'll have a successful adventure! _Sayonara_!" Waving at them, Professor Araragi headed out of the Pokémon Center, heading back to her lab in Kanoko Town.

"Okay, I'll stock up on medicine!" Pearl stated.

"I'll get Poké Balls!" Touko added.

"Wait, did we already decide that we're all traveling together?" Cheren snapped.

"Yeah! Traveling is always more fun when there's a lot of people!"

"But, look! There's seven of us! Don't you think that a group of seven is a bit much?"

"Seven?" Touko tilted her head to the side. "I only see six."

"Touko, your comments really kill me, you know…" Touya grumbled. Sighing, Touya turned around to walk off somewhere, only to run into the same pink Pokémon that'd taken their Pokémon earlier.

"_Tabunne_," was all it said, motioning to the stretcher with the trays of Poké Balls. "_Tabu_."

"Oh, thanks!" Touya exclaimed, taking the Poké Ball with his Mijumaru off the tray. The others all took their Pokémon as well and then thanked the Pokémon, who nodded in return and wheeled the stretcher away.

"…I'm going outside for a bit," Cheren said, turning around to leave the Pokémon Center, though not before pushing his glasses up again. Though they weren't falling down, and he was probably doing it out of habit.

Pearl and Touko began to buy things at the shop, and the others simply talked with each other for a bit before deciding to go outside as well. Outside, they spotted a man and a little boy talking loudly enough for them to hear.

"Something's starting up in the plaza!" the little boy said excitedly.

"Well, then, let's go check it out for a bit," the man said. He and the little boy began heading off towards the plaza, where a crowd had begun to gather there, for some reason.

"…Belle, do you smell that?" Danny asked, grinning evilly.

Belle nodded, grinning just as evilly as she was. "The smell…"

"Of suspicion!" they both said at the same time.

"How does suspicion have a smell?" Touya grumbled, following the two girls as they hurried off after the man and boy.

"Beats me. Maybe it's just a woman thing," Brendan said.

They spotted Cheren among the crowd gathering in the plaza, who also spotted them and motioned for them to come over.

In front of the crowd was a line of people with knight-like outfits on. Female, male, female, male, in line just like that.

Two of the people in the line stepped forward and to the side, allowing a green haired man with a patch over his right eye to walk forwards. He wore an elaborate outfit, with robes printed in weird patterns on it. It was a wonder how he could even walk with it on.

"I am Geechisu," he said. "…Team Plasma's Geechisu. Today, I would like to tell you about Pokémon liberation."

This… resulted in confused reactions from the crowd.

"What?"

"Huh?"

The man began to walk back and forth in front of the crowd, pacing around as he continued talking. "We humans live together with Pokémon. We love one another and need one another. That's how we humans feel. Is that true? We humans think that… We have only thought of that, no?"

"I'm totally lost by what this guy is saying," Danny whispered to Touya, who nodded in agreement. Brendan was trying not to laugh out loud, so he stood in the back of the crowd so no one could see him.

"Trainers must always love Pokémon… Even if they're working their partners too hard… Who clearly would not enjoy that?"

"What? I don't get it…"

"Seriously…?"

"Is that okay, everyone?" the man, Geechisu, continued. "Now, Pokémon are different from humans. They have unknown potential, and they are living beings from whom we humans have much to learn. Tell me, what is our responsibility toward these wonderful beings called Pokémon?"

"Whaattt?"

"Is this, like, some kind of report or something…?"

"You mean, we should set the Pokémon free…?"

"That's right!" the man exclaimed. "Pokémon should be free! And surely, humans and Pokémon will become as equals with one another! Everyone. Please think about how to properly communicate with your Pokémon.

"And that is all that I, Geechisu, have to say. Thank you for listening."

And with that, all the knight-like people moved to pick up the flags they had placed, surrounded Geechisu, and began walking away with him in the center of them.

The people in the crowd began talking to one another now, mostly about the whole speech the man just gave. They eventually began walking away to do whatever they'd been doing beforehand, leaving Cheren, Belle, Touya, Danny, and Brendan behind…

Along with another boy, with green hair and a baseball cap on.

"…Just now," the boy began talking, apparently to them, as he'd suddenly come over to stand near them. "Your Pokémon spoke…"

Cheren looked at the boy in confusion. "…What? You're talking very fast… You said something about Pokémon talking? What?"

"Ah, that's right…" the boy said. "You people can't hear them… Poor things. My name is N."

"Just N?" Danny asked. "What's the N stand for?"

"Nothing."

"Ohhh, I get it."

"Get what?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

"Anyways!" Cheren interrupted them. "I'm Cheren. And, from left to right, Danny, Touya, Belle, and Brendan. We're working to complete the Pokédex while we're on a journey."

"…We are?" Belle asked.

Cheren ignored her. "My own personal objective is to become the champion."

"A Pokédex, huh…" the boy, N, mumbled. "To fill it up, you have to capture many Pokémon inside Poké Balls. I, too, am a trainer, but I always question that. Are those Pokémon happy?"

N paused, looking at Danny. "…You there, with the blonde hair. Your name was Danny, correct?… Please, allow me to hear your Pokémon's voice again!"

"Er… What?"

N didn't answer Danny's sensible question, instead taking out a Poké Ball and tossing it in the air. A small, purple cat Pokémon came out, standing in front of N.

"Um… what do I do?" Danny asked, looking back at the others, clearly confused.

"He's battling you!" Cheren answered. "Send out your Pokémon!"

"Right…" Scratching the side of her head, Danny turned back towards N and his purple kitty cat. "Go, Fire Pig!" she shouted, tossing her own Poké Ball in the air, letting out her Pokabu, who appeared in a flash of light in front of Danny.

"Choroneko, please use Scratch."

"Fire Pig, use Tackle!"

The cat Pokémon, Choroneko, dashed towards Fire Pig, slashing at it with its claws. Wincing, Fire Pig quickly tackled Choroneko in response to this attack, knocking the cat Pokémon backwards just a bit.

"Ahahah! More! Let me hear your Pokémon's voice!"

Danny made a face, turning around to look back at her friends. All of them minus Belle pretty much had the same expression on their face, which basically meant the same exact thing: Holy crap, this guy's a weirdo.

"Growl, Choroneko!"

"Tackle again!"

Choroneko started to growl at Fire Pig, apparently trying to weaken his attacks, but Fire Pig simply dashed forwards to tackle Choroneko. N ordered another attack as Fire Pig tackled Choroneko - "Scratch!" - and so Choroneko raked its nails across Fire Pig as he tackled it.

"Ember!" Danny shouted. Fire Pig gave just the slightest nod, snorting out small balls of fire at Choroneko. The burns didn't seem to do much other than singe the cat's fur, though.

"Choroneko, Scratch!"

"Tackle! Come on, Fire Pig! I belieeeveeee in you!"

Oddly enough, Fire Pig seemed encouraged by Danny's silly sounding cheering, and so he ran towards Choroneko again, who raked its nails along Fire Pig's side, and Fire Pig slammed into it in return. Choroneko stumbled over, falling to its side, unconscious.

N fell to his knees suddenly. "S-such a thing is said… By a Pokémon!" he said, sounding far too dramatic for his own good.

"Um… is there something…" Danny pointed at her head. "Like, wrong with your head?"

"As long as it's confined within a Poké Ball…" he mumbled. "A Pokémon doesn't have a complete existence…"

"Er… Are you… sane?"

N looked up at the sky, still sounding dramatic. He could probably play in a soap opera and get a lead role as an angsty sparkling vampire. "…Pokémon are my friends… I will change the world, for my friends…"

And with that, N stood up and began walking away.

"…That guy was weird," Cheren simply said once N was out of earshot.


	7. Chapter Six

Author's Notes: Rewritten as of September 14, 2011.

* * *

Chapter Six

"Okay, guys! Let's go!"

"YEAAAHHH!"

Belle blinked a couple of times and asked, "Wait… where are we going?"

Touko shook her head and sighed. "Belle, you're totally hopeless without us," she said. "We're going… to Sanyou City! To challenge the gym!"

Belle's eyes widened. "Ohhh!"

"Wait a moment," Touya interrupted. "I think Cheren said this earlier… but when did we all decide we were traveling together? And who said we were challenging the gyms?"

Predictably, Touko didn't answer Touya, or even acknowledge that he'd said anything. She'd turned her eyes back to the small, yellow device in her hands. On its screen was a map, apparently of the Isshu region. There was a spot blinking in the south eastern area of the map, and Touko placed her finger on it.

"This is where we are now," she said. "Right in Karakusa Town. Now, Sanyou City is a bit north from here…" Touko touched a spot that was a little way up from Karakusa Town. "Right there."

Pearl was watching Touko as she displayed her awesome map reading skills. She nodded a couple of times. "Okay! I'm sure we can get there before the end of the day…" Pearl trailed off to look at everyone else. "If we don't get _distracted_ along the way…"

"What? We didn't do anything."

Pearl shrugged as Touko closed the electronic map, putting it into her pink bag and slinging it over her shoulder. Touko led the group through Karakusa Town, which was slightly devoid of people and Pokémon… where had all the people that had listened to Geechisu's speech gone to?

Reaching the gatehouse in the west of the town and walking on through, Danny and Belle nearly got distracted by the T.V. on the wall, where there was a ticker going along the bottom of it, displaying noteworthy things. Pearl had already stopped everyone else and was staring at them angrily.

"See? You were already getting distracted!"

"Er… no, we weren't! That's not true at all!"

As soon as they left the gatehouse, with Pearl watching Belle and Danny carefully, something jumped down from the roof of the building, landing right in front of them.

"ROOAARRRR!"

No one was fazed by the sudden appearance of the person. "Oh," Brendan began, "it's the kid from yesterday."

"Wha… I'm not a kid!"

It was Iris, the supposedly not-a-kid kid from Professor Araragi's lab. She started stomping on the ground, her pigtails seeming to twitch around as she had a fit over being called a kid. She abruptly calmed down and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hmph! I thought I'd be nice and show you guys the way to Sanyou City, that's all!"

"What? We aren't idiots, we can find it ourselves."

"That's not the point!" Iris snapped. She turned around and started walking away, her arms still crossed. Anyone with a pair of eyes could see that she was fuming about something.

Brendan looked back at everyone. "Should we follow the k… K-I-D?"

"I can hear you!"

Cheren shrugged. "Why not? If she's offering to lead the way, well…" He pushed up his glasses. "Something about following her seems more trustworthy than Touko leading the way."

Touko nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I agree."

Cheren, Brendan, and Touya stared at Touko, who had just agreed that following Iris would be better than following herself. Pearl, Danny, and Belle had already started following after Iris, and after Touko stared back at them, she hurried after.

"…Er… I guess we should go along too."

"I suppose so."

Route 2 was a winding route, filled with plenty of trees and tall grass. There were a lot of trainers around the area, too, and a lot of them seemed to be directing their attention towards the abnormally large group traveling through the route. Nearly all the trainers who noticed them ran up to challenge them to a battle. Iris refused to battle, instead opting to instruct everyone else on how to battle. Brendan and Pearl didn't seem to be battling, either, for some odd reason.

When they'd finally gotten through the swarm of trainers wanting to battle them and had resumed walking through the tall grass, Danny asked Iris a question.

"Iris, is there… uh, something in your hair?"

Iris looked back at Danny and asked, "What?"

"It's just that, my Pokédex says…" Danny held up her Pokédex, as if she was showing Iris what the Pokédex was. "It says there's something in your hair."

"There's nothing."

"Yes, there is! Look, look!"

Danny pointed the Pokédex at Iris, and Belle, Cheren, Touya, Touko, Pearl, and Brendan gathered around to see what came up on the screen… a small, green Pokémon, with two white tusks poking out of its mouth. Its eyes were red, and the top of its head was a darker green than its body.

Danny showed the screen to Iris. "Ohhh, that?" Iris asked. "Kibago! Come on out!"

Iris's hair suddenly moved, and the head of a Pokémon popped out… one whose appearance matched the Pokédex picture exactly.

"Ohh, it's so cute!~"

"Let me touch it, please!"

Danny and Belle instantly rushed over to Iris, reaching out to pat Kibago's head. Iris seemed to be acting rather proud for some reason, as if she were Kibago's actual mother.

"…Why's it in your hair, though?" Cheren asked.

Iris looked at Cheren like he was stupid. "Duh! So Kibago can be with me, that's why! Right, Kibago?" She turned back to the little Pokémon, scratching underneath its chin. "Okay! Let's go, everyone! Sanyou City's right ahead!"

Belle, Danny, and Touko all shouted, "YEAAAH!"

"I knew there was something wrong with her hair," Brendan muttered.

True to her word, Sanyou City was just ahead of them. The grassy road suddenly turned to pavement, and tall buildings surrounded them. Up ahead was the Pokémon Center, its bright red roof standing out like a beacon.

They headed to the Pokémon Center first, and after their Pokémon were returned back to them, the group of eight headed back outside.

"So, we should try to find the gym now, right?" Belle suggested.

"What's a gym even look like?"

"Why do they call it a gym?"

"It it like a school gym?"

"Do they have a bathroom?"

"How about a sink?"

Before either Danny or Belle could ask any more questions, Pearl told them to shut up. "And if you have to go to the bathroom, there's one in the Pokémon Center!"

"I didn't have to go… we just wanted to make sure. You know, just in case."

"I met someone named Justin Case."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He was on a first aid kit."

As Danny and Belle continued their idiotic conversation, Touko had taken out her map again. She turned it on and zoomed in on their current location.

"According to this, the gym should be…"

Touko looked up and pointed at the building that was right next to the Pokémon Center. "Right there."

The building she'd pointed to look more like a two-story diner, with fancy windows, two statues on either side of the small flight of stairs heading up to the front doors.

"Are you sure…?"

Touko nodded, looking back down at the map with a frown. "Yeah… maybe my map is outdated."

"No, it's not! That really is the Sanyou Gym!"

All of them, minus Cheren, screamed and whirled around at the sound of someone else's voice. Standing behind them, smiling like there was nothing wrong, was a boy who was probably around the same age as Iris. He had green hair, a tuft of which stuck up in the air.

"Oh, it's just a guy without the whites of his eyes," Danny said.

The boy paid no attention to Danny's comment about his eyes (which were indeed missing the white area), and started talking to them. "My name's Dent. It's nice to meet you." He bowed.

"Oh… er, yeah."

Dent walked around them, heading towards the weird looking gym. "When you decide to come here, just ask for a battle, okay?"

"…Right…"

"Good bye, then!"

After he was gone, Touko finally spoke. "I… guess we should challenge the gym?"

"I guess so…"

They all went silent, with the only noises belonging to the people passing by them and from the Pokémon wandering the streets. They all jumped when something by Danny began making a loud noise.

Danny suddenly realized that the noise _was_ coming from her, and reached into her skirt pocket, pulling out a cell phone. "Oh… It's my mom. I'll be back in a second, guys!"

Danny hurried off somewhere, apparently to talk to her mother in private.

"…Where'd she get a cell phone from?" Cheren asked, pushing his glasses up for the millionth time that day. He looked over at Pearl and Brendan, apparently assuming to get an answer from either of them.

"Yeah, I don't know."


	8. Chapter Seven VS Corn

Author's Notes: Anyone who's watched the Pokémon Best Wishes anime would know what I mean when I say... Dent, Pod, and Corn are fabulously flamboyant. Especially when Ash asked for a battle and the lights went out, and then the three of them started walking like... uh... Yeah. :|

_Rewritten as of October 1, 2011._

* * *

Chapter Seven

"Yes, yes. I got it. Yes, I'll send pictures. What? You wanna see Fire Pig? Yeah, that's what I named him. I know, right? Okay, okay, I'll talk to you later. See ya!"

Danny shut her cell phone and turned around, only to see that the other seven were standing nearby, apparently trying to hide around a building and spy on her. They weren't doing a good job of it, however…

"Hey, guys! Let's get going to the gym now!" Danny called out.

"…Right…"

"Who were you talking to just now?"

"I told you, my… uh, mom!" Danny walked up to them and pointed at the gym nearby. "Let's get going, come on!"

They finally left where they'd been standing, heading off to the Sanyou Gym. Upon walking inside, it looked just like a restaurant… exactly what they'd thought it was. There were tables and booths, with a majority of the people sitting at them being girls.

A woman, most likely a waitress judging by her outfit, greeted them at the door. "Hello, welcome! Table for…" She paused, counting all of them. "Um… eight! Okay, do we have a table that big…?"

Danny jumped ahead of the group, shouting, "We're here for a gym batttllleeee!"

Everyone in the restaurant looked up at them. "A gym battle?"

"Yep, yep!"

Everyone started whispering excitedly to each other, and three of the waiters walked up to them. One of them was the green haired boy from earlier, Dent. The other two had equally strange hair colors; one of them had blue hair that covered one side of his face, and the other had red hair that stood up, vaguely resembling flames.

"So, which one of you will be taking the challenge?"

Danny's hand shot up in the air. "Me, me! Meeee!"

Cheren pushed up his glasses. "I will as well."

While Belle seemed to be debating to herself on whether she should take the gym challenge or not, Touko answered, "I guess I will, too!"

Touko looked back at Brendan and Pearl. "What about you two?"

"Nah, I don't wanna," Pearl answered.

"Me either. Neither. Er… whatever, I don't care what the word is."

"Um, well, what're your starting Pokémon?" Dent asked, bringing everyone's attention back to him and the other two boys.

"I've got a Pokabu!" Danny said happily.

"In that case," the blue haired boy began. "You'll be battling me. I'm Corn."

Brendan muttered, "Corn? What kind of person names their child Corn?"

Touko grinned and said, "I've got a Tsutarja!"

"You'll face me, then!" the third boy, the red haired one answered, sounding far too enthusiastic about it.

Cheren fixed his glasses yet again. "I also have a Tsutarja. But Touko can go first."

"What? You're just saying that so you can see what kind of Pokémon Mr. Redhead has, aren't you?"

"So? Is there some kind of problem with that?"

"Yes! You go first! Your name starts with C, so that comes before mine, so you first!"

"Uh, no."

Touko puffed out her cheeks and whirled around to face the three boys. "Fine! I'll battle before Cheren, then!"

"Okay, okay!" Dent took a step back from Touko, as if she'd kill him at any moment. "Um… Corn, you take your challenge first, okay?"

"Of course. Follow me, if you will."

Everyone, including the people who'd been previously eating at the restaurant, followed the group as they headed off through the building, walking through several curtains, leading all the way out to the battlefield.

While Corn went to take a spot in the boxed off area of the gym floor, Danny looked around in awe.

"Ohhhhh, I get it! It's called a gym… 'cause the floor looks like a gym floor!"

Noticing that Corn had already taken a place at one end of the field, Danny quickly assumed that she should take the spot on the other end, rushing over to stand there. Dent had walked over to stand nearby the field.

"I'll be the referee!" he announced, and then mumbled, "I really wanted to battle, though… Ah, no! Um, okay! Challenger, what's your name?"

"I'm Danny!"

"…Right! The battle between Gym Leader Corn and challenger Danny will now begin! Uh, trainers, please send out your Pokémon!"

Corn nodded in response to this, taking out a Poké Ball and tossing it in the air. It opened up, letting out a small, terrier-like Pokémon in a flash of light. "I'll start with Yorterrie, then."

Danny squealed. "Aw, it's so cute and… ah, no, sorry! Okay…" Danny took out a Poké Ball and tossed it into the air. "Go, Fire Pig!"

The black and orange pig Pokémon came out, and started snorting small flames as he glared at Yorterrie, apparently trying to act tough. Yorterrie just stared at him.

"Fire Pig, use Ember!"

"Yorterrie, use Cheer Up!"

Fire Pig began snorting, sending out small flames from its nose and at Yorterrie. The flames grazed its fur, and a couple of them knocked into Yorterrie. The puppy-like Pokémon shook it off quickly, and straightened itself up, barking a couple of times.

Danny waited, but nothing seemed to be happening from Yorterrie other than that. By then, Corn had already given another order for his Pokémon - "Use Bite!"

Danny managed to shout, "Fire Pig, use Tackle!"

The two Pokémon charged at each other, Fire Pig attacking first by slamming into Yorterrie. As he turned around, Yorterrie bit down on his curly tail. Fire Pig's eyes widened, but he quickly began flinging Yorterrie around in an attempt to force it to let go. Surprisingly, it let go without putting up much of a fight against it, and skidded backwards, growling at Fire Pig.

"Use Ember!"

"Bite, again!"

Yorterrie rushed towards Fire Pig, trying to bite him again. Fire Pig narrowly avoided it, and blew a stream of flames out at Yorterrie. Yorterrie wasn't able to handle that attack, and toppled over to the ground, unconscious.

"I see…" Corn returned his Yorterrie, taking out another Poké Ball. "That seems like a decent attack, hm? And now…"

He tossed the Poké Ball into the air, letting out a blue and yellow monkey Pokémon. Its eyes were shut, and it had a blue, puffy thing on top of its head. "It's time for Corn's final Pokémon!"

"Ah… er… it's showtime… for Danny and Fire Pig!"

Fire Pig happily hopped around. "_Buu_!"

"Hiyappu!" Corn shouted. "Cheer Up!"

"Quick, use Tackle!"

Fire Pig was quick to dash towards Hiyappu, who was straightening itself up, nodding to itself, and tackled the monkey Pokémon. Hiyappu simply brushed off the attack, and Corn shouted, "Water Gun!"

"Ember, Fire Pig!"

Hiyappu blasted Fire Pig with water from its mouth, and Fire Pig attempted to snort out flames at Hiyappu. Though the flames did reach Hiyappu, they seemed to be extremely weak, as Hiyappu showed no sign of being injured from it.

"Water Gun, again!"

"Uh, use Ember… again!"

Fire Pig tried this best to shot out another Ember attack, but Hiyappu sprayed him with water again. Unable to fight anymore, Fire Pig fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Wah… what do I do now? I don't have any other Pokémon!"

"That means you lost," Brendan simply answered. "It's game over."

"G-game over?"

"Challenger Danny is out of usable Pokémon!" Dent announced the obvious. "Gym Leader Corn wins!"

"NOOOO!" Danny shouted dramatically, falling to her knees and crawling over to the unconscious Fire Pig. "DON'T DIE ON ME, MAN!"

Belle had rushed over to Danny, who'd picked Fire Pig up from the ground. The two of them rushed out of the gym, shouting things like, "Don't die on us, man!" and "The patient is coming to! Hurry!"

"Well, then," the red haired boy began, walking over to take places with his brother. "Touko, was it? Let's battle!"

Touko had been watching Danny and Belle run out of the gym, but now hurried over to where Danny had been standing, taking out a Poké Ball. "Okay!"

And so, the two of them began their own battle…


	9. Chapter Eight VS Pod

Author's Notes: Rewritten as of October 1, 2011.

Might as well as start mentioning the English names... Makomo's English name is Fennel, the Dream Smoke is called Dream Mist (it's like they named it that because I made unfortunate references to the name), Dent, Pod, and Corn are Cilan, Chili, and Cress... um... I don't care anymore...

* * *

Chapter Eight

Belle and Danny sat in the lobby of the Pokémon Center, waiting for Fire Pig to finish getting healed. Belle appeared to be having a conversation with herself as she mumbled about whether she should battle the Gym Leader or not.

"Belle, what're you mumbling about?"

Belle blinked in surprise, looking around in confusion before realizing that Danny was sitting by her. "Oh, I was just wondering if I should battle the Gym Leader or not…"

"I think you should! Definitely!"

"Huh…? But… I'm not a good battler at all…"

"What kind of Pokémon do you have?"

"I have a Pokabu!" Belle answered with a grin. "Like yours!"

"Eh, really?" Danny sounded amazed at this for some reason.

Belle nodded. "Yeah! She's so cute! But… my dad doesn't like her very much… But Mama does, so that's what matters!"

"Ehhhh? What's it with your dad? He seems kinda mean."

Belle frowned, looking down at the floor and starting to talk again. "He… just doesn't like the thought of me going on a journey… Since I'm kinda stupid, he thinks that I can't take care of myself, or that I'll get hurt or something… And he doesn't seem to really like Touko, or Cheren, or Touya, 'cause he thinks that they're the ones who got me started on the idea of being a Pokémon trainer and traveling…"

Seeming to be thinking, Danny answered, "Well, you're traveling in a group now! So you won't get hurt or lost or anything like that! It'll be fine!"

"Yeah!"

Danny's phone started ringing, which made both of them jump in surprise. Danny pulled it out of her pocket, and then abruptly realized that she was next to Belle. She looked at Belle, and back at the phone, and then shrugged. "Well, whatever!"

Pressing the talk button and putting the phone on speaker, which probably wasn't a good idea for multiple reasons. "Hi!"

"Sorry, Danny!" the person on the phone responded. "…Say. It sounds funny… do you have your phone on speaker phone or something?"

"Yeah! Hope you don't mind!" Danny put her arm around Belle's shoulders, even though the person on the phone couldn't see them. "I'm with Belle, though, so it's perfectly fine!"

"Okay… so, so! Did you battle any Gym Leaders yet? What're they like? What do they look like? What's their names? How about-"

Danny interrupted the person before they could continue. "Okay, okay! Yeah, I just battled this Gym Leader… named Corn! Actually, the first Pokémon gym here has three leaders! I think they battle you based on what started Pokémon you have. Say, what was your starter Pokémon again?"

"Piplup."

"Yeah, yeah! Uh… I don't know which one you'd face. I think it'd be the green haired guy. Oh, yeah! They're all super duper flamboyant! I'm telling you-"

"Um, Danny?" Belle interrupted. "Who're you talking to?"

"Oh, my cousin! Her name's…"

* * *

"Tsutarja, use Tackle!" Touko yelled. The green lizard Pokémon jumped at its opponent, a red, sleepy looking monkey with a flame shaped thing on its head. Tsutarja slammed into it, and the monkey Pokémon collapsed, knocked out.

"Gym Leader Pod is out of usable Pokémon! Challenger Touko wins!"

Touko's friends all began clapping in response to this, and Touko starting bowing, stopping to let Tsutarja jump up onto her cap. Pod, the red haired Gym Leader from earlier, returned the monkey to its Poké Ball. He came over to Touko, reaching into his pocket, and handed her a small piece of metal; it was shaped with three triangles, a red, green, and blue one, and surrounded by a yellow border.

"Here you go! The Tri Badge!"

Taking the badge from Pod, Touko spun around a couple of times before striking a ridiculous pose, holding the badge high in the air. "I've got… the Tri Badge!"

Tsutarja let out a cry and tossed its small hand into the air. Even though it was cheering for their win, it didn't look particularly excited. Maybe that was just how it always looked.

"Oh… I, um, hate to bring this up, but…" Dent pointed at a clock on the wall. "It's gotten a bit late now, as you can see. We, um, can't battle anyone else. But you can come back tomorrow, if you'd like!"

The group all answered with "okay"s of various enthusiasm, and they left the gym. Most of the other people had already left by then; Touko and Pod had taken an extremely long time battling because they continuously kept talking.

Outside, the sun was already beginning to set, and the sky was orange. They'd spent a _really_ long time in the gym, judging by that.

"Yahoooo!"

Standing there by the gym was a woman with long black hair. She wore a lab coat, and a flower clip held back some of her hair. She was waving, apparently at them.

"Don't look at her," Pearl whispered. "It's a freak."

The woman decided to run up to the group, since they all seemed to be standing there ignoring her.

"My name's Makomo!" she said happily. "Professor Araragi told me all about you guys! Could you all come over to my place for a bit? Come on, follow me!"

She turned around and practically skipped away. Left with no choice, the six children followed this Makomo person, leading them to a two story house. Or maybe it was an apartment. It was a place to live, to sum it up.

Inside the house, a couple of kids sat around, and greeted Makomo as she came in. They seemed as surprised as the six of them did when they came into the house. Ignoring everyone's confusion, Makomo headed over to a staircase that probably went up to the second floor.

"You guys are traveling around the Isshu region to meet all the Pokémon, right?" Makomo asked.

"Yeah!" Pearl answered. She abruptly realized something: they were in Sanyou City, and Professor Araragi had told them to find a person named Makomo. Ohhh, now everything made sense…

Makomo stopped. "Ah… the stairs are here!"

"No shit," Brendan muttered, earning himself an elbow in the side from Iris. He muttered something else and glared at the much shorter girl, who was busy pretending that she hadn't done anything.

"My room's upstairs!" Makomo continued, turning back around and starting to go up the stairs. "Heheh… Be afraid!"

Brendan muttered, "I can't be afraid of someone wearing a pink flower barrette." Iris elbowed him in the side again and followed after Makomo.

Upstairs, it looked vaguely normal, aside from the machines occupying some of the area, and a bed that was right next to one of the machines. A table sat nearby, and already sitting there were Danny and Belle, who waved at the other six with stupid grins on their faces.

Makomo sat down at the same table. "I'll introduce myself again!" she said. "I'm Makomo. A researcher. I'm a friend of the professor's from back when we were in school!… Wait. Was it college or…"

"Oh, I thought that Professor Araragi looked old-" Brendan began, but was timely interrupted by Iris's elbowing.

"Anyways!" Makomo abruptly realized she was getting off track as she mumbled about when exactly she met Professor Araragi. "I… need to ask for your help! From all of you!"

Not giving them a chance to protest, Makomo continued talking, "There's a place in Sanyou City… the Dream Site, that's what it's called! There's a Pokémon there called Munna. It's ability is called 'Dream Smoke'. And that's what I'd like. How to explain it… it's like for a game sync! To collect trainer's reports!"

Everyone was staring at her like she was crazy. Brendan raised his hand. "Question, Ms. Makomo! Are you currently high on Dream Smoke right now?"

"Hmm… No, not right now, I'm not!"

Brendan stared at her in horror. "Oh… my god. She actually answered my question. No, wait… what do you mean, 'not right now'? Does that mean you actually-"

Pearl and Iris both elbowed Brendan in the sides, and quickly high-fived each other for their unintentional teamwork.

And so, all eight of them left Makomo's home, off to the Dream Site to find a Munna. So they could get high off of the Dream Smoke.


	10. Chapter Nine

Author's Notes: A much needed rewrite as of May 31, 2012. God, this chapter was awful. This thing's in more of a rewrite than some of my other stories.

* * *

Chapter Nine

"Okay, here's my question. Why the _hell_ is there a freaking tree here? It's not even a big tree! It looks like a fake, plastic one! Why is there-"

Iris yanked on the back of Brendan's shirt, tossing him to the side like he was a piece of garbage. She placed her hands on her hips.

"Heheh! Now, watch a master cut this tree!" Iris snapped her fingers. "Kibago, use Cut!"

Kibago popped out of Iris's hair, coming out onto the ground and hurrying over to the little tree. Using the small tusks in its mouth, Kibago sliced the tree up, revealing that it had been blocking a small hole in the wall. They all headed through the hole, one by one.

"Ohhh, I wonder what this mysterious Pokémon looks like!" Belle whispered, looking like she might explode from excitement.

Almost as if on cute, they heard an odd noise… Like bubbling, or bubbles from inside a toilet. Or maybe it was actual words and Pearl needed to stop thinking about how much she really needed to head to the restroom.

"Hey, hey!" Belle pulled on Danny's shirt. "Did you hear that noise? I think it came from behind that wall! LET'S GO, EVERYONE!"

So much for being quiet. Nonetheless, they headed on through the path, where another hole lay in a broken cement wall that stood there, attached to other things. As soon as they reached the hole, they saw something there ahead of them.

It was pink, with a hanging nose, much like an elephant. Flowers were printed on its body, and it was hovering over the ground as the kids approached it.

In response to their appearance, it said, "_Muun_," and floated off away from them. Naturally, they followed the weird Pokémon.

"I spy a Munna!"

And they screamed at the sound of someone else's voice ahead of them. Two people stepped out from behind a cement wall, dressed in white, light blue, and black. Both the man and woman had orange hair with the blue hoods of their outfits pulled up over their heads. They hurried to surround Munna without a single glance at the other people standing there.

"Look, look! I've got… a Dream Smoke!"

"Ahaha, I get it!~"

Munna glanced back and forth at the two people in a panic. Which was completely understandable, as the two were definitely not normal, at least not dressed like that. "…_Mu…"_

"W-w-wait a second!" Belle stammered. "Who are you people?"

"Us?" one of them responded and looked up at the group of children standing there. "We're Team Plasma! We're rescuing Pokémon from people day _and_ night!"

"What're you doing?" the other one snapped. "Uh… Those Pokémon, Munna and Musharna, use a mysterious gas that can show dreams! We can manipulate people's minds using it, and have them release their Pokémon!"

One of them kicked Munna in the side, earning him a squeal from the pink vaguely elephant-like Pokémon.

"…_Mu…nna…"_

"Come on! Spit out the Dream Smoke!"

"You don't have to kick that Pokémon to make the Dream Smoke come out!" Belle shouted. "That's terrible! Why're you doing that? Are you guys trainers too?"

The man looked up at Belle. "That's true, we're also Pokémon trainers! But unlike you brats, we have a reason to fight! We want to help liberate Pokémon!"

"That's right!" the woman agreed. "We rescue all the poor, unfortunate Pokémon! So how about this? We'll battle, and if we win, we'll take and release _all_ of your Pokémon! That way, we'll also rescue them!"

Belle nodded. "Fine then! That's what we'll do!" She looked back at everyone else. "…Okay! Someone help!"

Brendan let out a sigh and walked over to stand in front of Belle. "I'll battle them, okay?" he said, taking out a Poké Ball.

"Hah! Prepare yourselves!" the man shouted, stepping away from Munna and tossing a Poké Ball in the air. "Go, Minezumi!"

A chipmunk-like Pokémon emerged from the Poké Ball in a flash of light. The fur around its eyes was black, unlike the rest of its body, which was brown, and its cheeks were puffed out.

Brendan snorted and tossed a Poké Ball into the air. "Go! Swampert!" he yelled. A large, blue Pokémon emerged from the Poké Ball, with orange gills on the sides of its face, two fins on top of its head, and an oddly shaped tail.

At the sight of a foreign Pokémon, everyone, including the Team Plasma members, hurried to gather around the Pokémon.

"Ohhh, it's so cuuuttee! What's it called again?"

"It's a Swampert."

"This is one of Hoenn's starter Pokémon, correct?"

"Yeah. I also have a Grovyle. He's the evolved form of the grass-type starter there."

"Can I touch his gills?"

"Sure, he won't bite."

"This… is a mysterious Pokémon."

Brendan frowned and glared at the Team Plasma people, who were staring at Swampert curiously. "Er… What're you doing?" he asked. "Back off."

"Yeah, back off," Swampert said.

"Whoa, it spoke!"

"Hoenn Pokémon can talk?"

Swampert flexed his arms. "I am almighty!"

"Just stop it for a moment!" Brendan snapped. He pointed at the Team Plasma man. "Alright, you! Let's battle!"

The man paused to look at Swampert for a long, long moment. "I… uh… I changed my mind."

"Too bad! Hydro Pump!"

Swampert saluted with a "Roger that, captain!" and took in a deep breath. A jet of water blasted out from his mouth, slammed into Minezumi, knocked it back into its trainer, and slammed them both to the ground. Minezumi was unconscious from the single attack, and it looked like the Team Plasma man had had the wind knocked out of him.

The man coughed a couple of times before weakly crawly over to the woman with Minezumi hanging limply from his other arm. "Save me!"

"Fine," the woman grumbled, kicking his hand away. "I'm up next! Go, Choroneko!" She dropped the Poké Ball to the ground and sent out the purple and yellow cat Pokémon.

Brendan wondered why the woman thought that she would be capable of defeating Swampert and himself, since they had such MAD SKILLZ. "Swampert, use Hydro Pump again."

Once again, Swampert blasted both the woman and her Pokémon with his Hydro Pump of Awesomeness. The Choroneko never stood a chance.

"Ahhh, Choroneko!"

"Argh, this _totally_ sucks!" the man said. He quickly went over to where Munna still stood… er, floated. Apparently, it lacked the brain to realize that it should've run away while the two of them were distracted. "Whatever! All that matters is getting the Dream Smoke! Come on, come on!"

The man slammed his leg into Munna's side, and it let out a squeal. No smoke of any kind seemed to be coming out from it, despite his kicking.

"No, stop that!" Belle called. She started running at the man. "I said _stop that_!"

A flash of light abruptly flooded the entire area. It quickly disappeared as quickly as it'd appeared, and standing there was a man with green hair, a red eye patch over one eye, who was dressed in strangely-patterned clothes.

"What's taking you so long?" he asked.

The same man suddenly appeared on the other side of them, but the first one hadn't disappeared.

"We of Team Plasma are working to separate Pokémon from people!"

The two men disappeared and reappeared as one person behind the two Team Plasma members.

"But you don't seem to be doing that role…!"

The two Plasma members hugged each other tightly. They looked at each other with wide eyes. "This Geechisu…" the man began. "He's not the same as the usual Geechisu, is he?"

"But whenever the plan fails, we get punished…"

"We've gotta hurry and apologize!"

The two leaped up and ran out of the area, ignoring the presence of the kids they'd just been talking to a moment ago. Another burst of light flooded the area, and the strangely dressed man with green hair was completely gone, leaving the child trainers and Munna all alone.

"What a bunch of weirdoes!" Swampert laughed.

"Speak for yourself," Brendan grumbled. "You're not exactly normal."

Something moved out from being the decrepit wall. It looked much like Munna, though it was bigger, and was a pink and purple color. Its body was curled up into a fetal like position, and pink smoke drifted from a spot on its nose. It floated over to Munna.

"_Mussha…_"

"…What _was_ that?" Belle finally asked, looking just as confused as everyone else. "First there was that Gaycheese guy… and he was here… then there were two of them there… and then he was over here and…" She gasped dramatically. "Oh, my gosh! Could it've been… a _dream_?"

"OHMAIGAWD!" Swampert cried. He started fanning himself. "That's totally it, girlfriend!"

Cheren tapped Brendan's shoulder and said, "Quick, you better return your Swampert before he and Belle have the conversation that only idiots can have."

"Good idea," said Brendan.

"Hey!" Swampert shouted. "I is not an idiot!"

"I hope you're joking."

"I was. I know it's I am. Wait, you're taking advantage of my tiny, oxygen-deprived brain, aren't you?"

"Hey, hey," Belle interrupted. She pointed at the two Pokémon in front of them. "What're those Pokémon anyways?"

Someone screamed, "WAAHH!" and everyone minus Cheren screamed.

Makomo stood there behind them, eyes wide in shock. "I… I was getting so impatient and worried about what was happening," she said. "B-but! There's Musharna! What… Just what happened here?"

"_Musha?"_

"_Munni…"_

The two Pokémon wisely turned around and started to float away, leaving the group behind. Belle was eagerly telling Makomo everything that happened, but failing to make anything sound comprehensible. And yet Makomo nodded to everything she said, eagerly absorbing each meaningless word that came from Belle's mouth.

"Musharna's the evolved form of Munna," Makomo finally said. "It has the ability to turns dream into reality. Because its friend Munna was in a pinch, it created a vision to distract those two people, and- OHMAIGAAWWWDDD!"

Makomo took off running to where the two Pokémon had just stood a moment ago. She dropped down and picked up a ball there on the ground. "This… this is the Dream Smoke!"

"Wait, why's it in a ball?" Brendan asked. "_How's_ it in a ball? That thing didn't even have fingers! What the hell?"

"If this really is the Dream Smoke…" Makomo leaped up from the ground, holding the ball tightly in her hands. "Then my research is complete! Oh, please come by my house later on, okay?"

Makomo ran off as fast as she could. Brendan was still trying to understand how the Dream Smoke ended up into a man-made ball.


	11. Chapter Ten VS Corn II

Author's Notes: Rewritten as of May 31, 2012. This chapter was pretty badly written, too.

* * *

Chapter Ten

It was the next morning, and Danny was determined to battle the Gym Leader of Sanyou again. Belle also decided that she was going to challenge the Gym Leader as well.

"Since we both have a Pokabu, we'll be facing the same guy!" Danny said.

"Yeah, yeah!… But which one of us should go first?"

"If it makes you feel better, _I'll_ go first!"

Cheren sighed and stared at them both. "Sorry to burst your bubble," he said, "but I'm having _my_ battle first today."

"Oh, yeah? Not if we beat you to the gym first!"

Danny and Belle raced out the Pokémon Center, leaving Cheren behind. The glasses-wearing boy didn't seem to actually cared, as he knew the gym didn't open for a while.

* * *

"I," Danny called out, "am here for another gym battle!"

"Oh, it's you again," said Pod. Aside from him and his brothers, no one else was in the restaurant. As it was still early in the morning, it was natural that it was empty.

"…Wait." Pod narrowed his eyes at Danny and Belle. "…Those doors were locked! How the hell'd you get in here?"

"Hee-hee, magic," Danny said.

"Well…" Corn brushed his hands off on his apron and headed towards the curtained area of the gym. "Let's have our battle then. Is your friend there going to battle us as well?"

"Yeah!"

"I've got a Pokabu, too!" Belle cheerfully said. "I'll be battling you, too, Mr. Corn!"

Pod snorted and covered his mouth. "Mr. Corn…"

"I'll be looking to it, then," Corn said.

They stood out onto the gym floor across from one another again. Dent hurried out to be the referee.

"U-um, let the battle between challenger Danny and Gym Leader Corn begin!"

"Go, Fire Pig!" Danny shouted, tossing the Poké Ball into the air and sending out the orange and black pig Pokémon.

"Yorterrie," Corn said and tossed a ball into the air, "I choose you!" The tiny puppy Pokémon emerged in a flash of light and hopped out, yapping a couple of times and chasing its tail.

"Use Ember!"

"Cheer Up!" Corn ordered.

Fire Pig snorted flames from its nose at the little puppy Pokémon, singeing its fur, but Yorterrie quickly shook the attack off, its fur bristling with excitement for some odd reason.

"Use Ember," Danny said, "and then Tackle!"

"Cheer up again, and use Bite!"

The Pokabu snorted more flames from its nose and took off running after the flames. As the flames burst on Yorterrie, Fire Pig slammed into Yorterrie, knocking it to the ground. Yorterrie quickly retaliated with a bite on Fire Pig's side.

"Ember!" Danny called.

"Bite again!"

Still struggling close to each other, Fire Pig burned Yorterrie with more flames. The puppy Pokémon released Fire Pig and flopped to the ground, unconscious. Corn quickly returned it to its Poké Ball and sent out his second Pokémon. "Hiyappu, you're up for a beautiful performance now!" he called as the blue and yellow monkey Pokémon emerged from the Poké Ball. "Use Water Gun!"

"Tackle!"

Hiyappu sprayed Fire Pig with a small amount of water, but Fire Pig charged forwards and slammed into Hiyappu, knocking it backwards a bit. Hiyappu sprang back up, calmly awaiting its trainer's next command.

"Water Gun again!" Corn said.

"Tackle… again!"

This time, the Pokabu nimbly avoided the incoming water and slammed into Hiyappu a second time. Corn ordered another Water Gun, and Danny ordered yet another Tackle. The third Water Gun hit Fire Pig head on, but Fire Pig pushed through and rammed itself into Hiyappu. The monkey Pokémon suddenly toppled over to the ground, having fainted from the attack.

"Ah… Challenger Danny wins the battle!" Dent cried. He looked a bit disappointed that his brother had lost, but that just might've been the lighting. Or maybe Danny was seeing things again.

Belle happily clapped while Danny ran over to Fire Pig with her arms wide open. "Way to go, Fire Pig!" Danny said. Fire Pig hopped up into her arms happily.

"_Pokabu!"_

"It appears as though Corn has lost the battle," Corn said, referring to himself in the third person for no apparent reason. "A wonderful job, Miss Danny. In honor of your skill, and according to the Pokémon League rules, Corn confers upon you this badge."

Corn walked over to Danny, reaching into a pocket on his white apron, and pulled out a small piece of metal. It appeared to be composed of three triangles, a red one in the middle, a blue one at the top, and a green one on the bottom. It was identical to the badge Touko had received the other day.

"That's the Tri Badge," Dent said. "With that badge, you have seven more to go before you're allowed to take part in the Pokémon League challenge! Um, annnndddddd-!"

Corn frowned at Dent. "Dent, she battled _me_, so allow me to do the explaining. Ahem… Now, Corn shall explain to you about the significance of this badge! With it, you are now one step closer to entering the Pokémon League competition! You technically have _seven_ more steps to go! Isn't that strange, that you only require _eight_ steps to challenge the Elite Four? It sounds so very simple, but it's not! There are many more Gym Leaders, all stronger than I, Corn, so-"

"You're just trying to talk longer than I did, aren't you?" Dent interrupted.

"Aha! I knew I could count on you, my innocent baby brother, who's like a small dew bud getting ready to roll off a leaf…"

"Um, thanks for the battle," Danny said. But Dent and Corn were already engaged in some kind of argument which mostly involved Corn using large words to intentionally confuse Dent. Well, maybe it was meant to confuse Danny, because she had no idea what was going on. Pod and Belle blankly watched, Belle being just as confused as Danny was.

* * *

"Go, Cheren!" Danny and Belle shouted together. "You can do ittttt! We believe in yooouuuuuuu!"

Cheren stared at them and pushed up his glasses. "What're you talking about? I already won the battle."

Danny and Belle were still cheering, five minutes after Cheren had defeated Pod, who now had to go and find a badge to give to Cheren because Corn refused to lend him one from his apron pocket from hell.

"Whoa, really?" Danny asked. "When'd that happen? Did I blink and miss it?… Cheren, are you a time-traveler?"

Cheren rolled his eyes and sighed. Pod finally came running back to him, badge in hand. "Here's your badge," Pod said, sounding a bit exhausted as he placed it in Cheren's hand. "Jeez, we've lost way too many time in these past two days. You guys are seriously strong. Like fiery embers burning passionately…"

Earning stares from the kids who stood there, Pod quickly added, "I was trying to be like my jackass of a brother, Corn. Did it sound like him?"

"No, it just sounded kinda creepy," Brendan said.

Pod frowned at him. "Hey. Where've I seen you before?"

"Yesterday, when I came to the gym?"

"No, no! I felt it yesterday, too… I've seen you somewhere before…"

Dent suddenly gasped. "Oh, oh, I recognize him! Don't you guys remember? He was on the front cover of Pokémon Weekly earlier this year! Remember, remember, he was in Hoenn, and he beat the champion? They had both him and some other girl on the cover of the magazine!"

"I didn't really beat the champion," Brendan said. "No, wait, scratch that. I _did_, but then I had to battle that girl you just mentioned, and I lost."

"Still, it's amazing!" Dent said. "I think I remember a bit about that trainer you lost to… wasn't it a little girl?"

Brendan paused for a moment. Then… "Yeah. It was a little girl. She was, like, seven or something," he said, grinning like a moron.

"Brendan, you're evil," Pearl muttered. But she said nothing else more than that.


	12. Chapter Eleven

Author's Notes: Route 3 actually is filled with lots of little kindergarteners. Guess that rule about having to be ten to be a Pokémon trainer just went down the toilet. Actually, though, I think only the anime mentioned such a rule. Whatever.  


* * *

Chapter Eleven

And so, our group's next destination… Shippou City, where the next Pokémon gym was. After they went and had their Pokémon healed, they hurried off to the city's north exit, which led out to the next route… Route 3.

Apparently, it was a school day.

Why, you may wonder, was this known?

…Well, the route was covered with little kids, their teachers, and older kids with backpacks; the older children were heading to Sanyou City since the school was there.

A couple of the little kids, who couldn't have been more than 4 or 5, ran up to them.

"Hey, are you guys Pokémon trainers?"

"Yeah."

"Battle us! Battle us!"

"Ohoho, is that a challenge? I accept that challenge, munchkin!… Go, Fire Pig!"

…And Danny was now having a Pokémon battle with a kindergartener.

"…" Touko glanced at one of the little kids. "…You want to battle too?"

The little kid nodded a little bit.

"Alright! Let's go! Tsutarja, I choose you!"

Within a couple of minutes, more little kids had gathered and wanted to battle them. Well, it's not like they could turn away a request from a kindergartener…

The children's teachers stood nearby to watch them battle, and once all the children had battled them, the children hurried back over to their teachers.

"…Okay, that was weird," Brendan simply said as they began walking along the route.

"Yeah, totally. Rather, the fact that we accepted the challenges… What does that even mean?"

"That we're immature?"

"Probably."

"Hey, get out of the way!"

Two people suddenly charged through their group, knocking them aside as they ran off. The people were dressed a lot like the Team Plasma people from the day before…

"What a bunch of jerks!" Iris shouted, jumping up and stomping the ground angrily. "Jeez! So rude!"

"…They looked like those Team Plasma people from yesterday…" Belle mumbled.

Touko suddenly looked behind herself at the sound of someone coming towards them to see a little girl, tears in her eyes as she rubbed her nose on her arm.

"…What's wrong?"

"Um… My Pokémon…"

Touko's eyes widened and she quickly jumped up, running off in the direction the two people had run in.

"Wait, Touko? Where're you going?"

"Hah! Leave this to Uncle Danny! I'll catch her!"

"Did you just call yourself 'Uncle Danny'…?"

Danny ran after Touko as fast as she could, leaving everyone else behind. Meanwhile, Belle, Iris, and Pearl were trying to comfort the little girl, who'd started to cry about her Pokémon…

Danny caught up to Touko at a surprisingly fast speed, firing off a rapid succession of questions. "What's wrong? Where're you going? What's it with the little kid? Why…"

The two came to a stop in front of a cave.

"…What's a cave doing here…?"

Touko looked back at Danny. "Those creeps stole that little girl's Pokémon! I think they went in here…"

Danny nodded. "I'm here to back you up! Let's go!"

Together, they both walked into the dark cave, where the two knight-like people stood with their backs to them…

"Hey! You guys!"

The two people looked back at them. "What do you want?"

"You guys… did you take a Pokémon from a little kid?"

"Uh… no?"

"Liars."

One of the guys shrugged. "Little kids shouldn't handle Pokémon at all! Don't you feel bad for the Pokémon?"

"That doesn't matter! You don't just go take a Pokémon from a little kid!"

"You guys are the same, too! Kids shouldn't handle Pokémon! So we'll steal your Pokémon too!"

Touko looked at Danny and they both nodded. "We'll battle you, then!"

"Bring it on!"

"Go, Fire Pig!"

"Tsutarja, I choose you!"

"Minezumi, go!"

"Uh, Minezumi, you also go!"

The two Plasma people both sent out a Minezumi as Touko and Danny let out Tsutarja and Fire Pig.

"Fire Pig, Ember!"

"Tsutarja, Vine Whip!"

"Minezumi, Bite!"

"…Minezumi, you also Bite!"

Tsutarja moved first, whipping one of the Minezumi with a vine from who-knows-where, while Fire Pig snorted out flames at the other Minezumi. The Minezumi attacked with the Vine Whip fainted from the attack, while the other Minezumi was still okay from the fire.

"Quick! Use Vine Whip again before it attacks!"

Tsutarja once again lashed at the other Minezumi, knocking it out.

"Hey, that's cheating!"

"It's not cheating! All's fair that… uh, you know the rest."

The two Plasma guys returned their Minezumi and grumbled something to each other. Suddenly, someone could be heard shouting from deeper within the tunnel…

…And then two more Plasma people appeared.

"You two are worthless! Get out of the way!"

The other two moved out of the way for the other Plasma people… who looked identical to the other ones. All four of them looked alike, actually, and it'd be hard to tell them apart…

"Go, Minezumi!"

"Go, Minezumi!"

"…Seriously?" Danny asked at the sight of more Minezumi. She was getting sick of these Pokémon…

"Vine Whip!"

"Ember!"

Apparently, these two Minezumi were weaker than the previous two, uh, Minezumi, and both of them fainted from the attacks.

"…Oh, yeah, we whooped your asses!"

"That's right, we did! Now, return the Pokémon," Touko ordered and held out her hand. She didn't really know which guy had the Pokémon, though…

One of them grumbled something and handed Touko a Poké Ball. "…Whatever."

With that, the four guys ran off, leaving behind Touko and Danny.

"Now…" Touko turned around and began walking out of the cave, with Danny following her. "Let's return the Pokémon!"

* * *

After they returned the Pokémon to the little girl, who thanked them multiple times, they continued walking off towards Shippou City. Danny suddenly got the idea to go look for a Pokémon to catch, and began searching through the grass like a madman. Any Pokémon with a brain would be smart enough to keep out of her way…

…And Belle decided to join in on the Pokémon searching, and now the two of them were looking through the grass, shouting for a Pokémon to come to them.

Eventually, they spotted the gateway to Shippou City ahead. However, Belle and Danny were still farther back, looking through the grass.

"Come on, you two!" Touko called. "Hurry up! You can look for Pokémon later!"

Surprisingly, Belle and Danny heard her, and they ventured out of the grass and hurried back to join their friends.

"You didn't find anything?" Pearl asked.

"I did," Danny answered.

"Oh, yeah? What was it?"

Danny held out a Poké Ball to Pearl, and the Pokémon could be seen inside it…

"…That's the Pokémon we saw in the Pokémon Center, right? Tabu something?"

Danny nodded. "Tabunne!"

Belle, on the other hand, didn't look very happy. She tightened her grip on her bag, her eyes looking downward.

"Belle? Something wrong?"

"…" Belle looked up at them before looking back down at the ground. "…Last night… I caught a Munna… 'cause after we saw those two Pokémon yesterday, I really wanted one… So I found one, and I caught it."

"That's great, then!… But why do you look so sad?"

"…I didn't realize it at first… But when those guys crashed into us… They…" Belle rubbed her eyes, sniffing loudly. "They… they stole my Munna!"


	13. Chapter Twelve

Author's Notes: Tabunne gets a nickname in this chapter! Also, N's out of his mind... Nothing he says makes sense. I guess that's the point, though...  


* * *

Chapter Twelve

Belle was now in the Pokémon Center, laying down on a couch, asleep. That said, tears stained her face, and she mumbled something about Munna a few times.

"I've contacted Professor Araragi about this," Cheren said, pushing up his glasses. "She said she'll contact the Gym Leaders about this. How's Belle doing?"

"She's asleep."

Danny suddenly snapped her fingers together and jumped up. "I've got an idea!… No, wait, I lost it."

Everyone sighed as Danny sat back down, tapping her chin and muttering to herself.

"In the meantime, maybe we should go find the gym and challenge it?" Touya suggested.

"Might as well."

"Yeah! Let's go!"

"I'll stay here and watch after Belle," Pearl offered.

"Okay, thanks!"

With that, everyone minus Belle, Pearl, and Iris, who'd disappeared off somewhere, headed out of the Pokémon Center and tried to find the gym…

* * *

"Jeez, this city's too big!" Danny whined, sitting down on the ground next to a building.

There were lots of buildings everywhere, and a lot of them looked alike, brown with stairs going up to the front doors.

There was also a café that they spotted, and Danny immediately wanted to go there. Touko agreed, and so they went to the café for lunch. And, after they did that, they continued to try to find the gym.

Meanwhile, Danny was wondering what nickname to give her Tabunne.

"I can't think of anything… You don't look like an animal of any sort, so I can't do that… Maybe… Pink Ear? No… Maybe…"

Danny reached into her pocket, taking out her Pokédex and pointing it at Tabunne, who was walking alongside her with Fire Pig.

"Tabunne, the Hearing Pokémon. With its ears' feelers, it discovers its opponent's feelings and physical condition by touching them and feeling the beat of their heart."

"…So, you're like a doctor, huh?" Danny mumbled, pressing a couple of buttons on the machine. "Let's see… You're female, huh? Your ability is Healing Heart… Let's see… What should I name you?"

"…Danny, what're you doing?"

Danny looked up to see that everyone else was ahead of her, but they'd stopped to look back at her.

"…That's it!" Danny jumped up excited, pocketing her Pokédex and pointing at Tabunne. "I'll call you… Doc!"

Tabunne tilted her head to the side. "_Tabu_?"

"Okay! Doc, Fire Pig, let's go!"

Both of her Pokémon cheered happily at this, and then the three hurried to catch up with their friends.

* * *

"Ohhhh, so that's the Pokémon gym? It doesn't look like that at all! I thought it was just a regular building."

Sure enough, the Shippou Gym didn't look like it'd be a gym at all. In fact, it looked a lot like a museum.

However, just as they began to walk into it, someone stopped them.

"…Oh, it's the crazy guy from, uh… Karakusa Town!"

The boy who'd stopped them lowered his cap just a bit, looking at them with a blank look. "I… See things just like everyone else."

Danny sighed. "He's starting in on more crazy talking."

"The ideal of Pokémon inside balls…"

"That's so wrong."

"The truth of the existence of trainers…"

"_Tabu_?"

"The future is full of Pokémon…"

N paused to look at them like he just noticed they were there. "…You're like that too?"

Since none of them had any idea what this guy was talking about, none of them bothered to answer his question. Well, for a moment, that is…

"Yes!"

N directed his attention to Touya, who'd suddenly said that in response to his question. "…I see. And so, me and my Pokémon-"

"My Pokémon and I," Cheren corrected.

"…Can you see me and my Pokémon in the future?" N asked, completely ignoring Cheren's correction. "I'll have to check it… with you."

Touya reached to his side, taking a Poké Ball off his belt. "…Is that a challenge or something?"

N only grinned, taking out his own Poké Ball and pressing its button, letting out a Pokémon… Mamepato.

"Go, Mijumaru!" Touya shouted, letting out the blue otter Pokémon. "Use Water Gun!"

"Mamepato, please use Quick Attack."

Mamepato moved quickly, just a blur of gray as it slammed into Mijumaru, who stumbled back and blasted the pigeon Pokémon with water.

"Mijumaru! Shell Blade!"

With a nod, Mijumaru removed the shell that was on its stomach (much to the horror of Danny and Brendan) and swung it at Mamepato, almost like it was a sword, knocking it back. Mamepato struggled to keep itself up, but it tipped over, unconscious.

Frowning, N returned Mamepato to its Poké Ball and sent out another Pokémon. It looked like a tadpole, with a creepy looking face and blue cheeks.

"I'll choose Otamaro next. And now… Otamaro, please use Supersonic."

The tadpole Pokémon, Otamaro, began to… uh, vibrate its cheeks. Mijumaru held its head in unseen pain, stumbling around.

"…Vibrating cheeks? Seriously?" Brendan muttered.

"_Tabun_!"

"Come on, Mijumaru, you can do it!" Touya pointed at Otamaro and shouted, "Use Tackle!"

Mijumaru managed to keep itself focused as it charged towards Otamaro, slamming into it as hard as it could. Otamaro rolled backwards, vibrating its cheeks some more.

"Mijumaru, use Shell Blade!"

Mijumaru quickly removed the shell on its stomach again, pulling its arm back and slashing at Otamaro with it. The attack proved to be too much for Otamaro, who fainted from the attack.

N returned Otamaro to its Poké Ball, sending out a third Pokémon to battle; it was small, and gray, and it looked like it was covered with pink veins. "My final Pokémon is Dokkora."

"Alright! Mijumaru, do it again… Shell Blade!"

"_Miju_!" Mijumaru replied back to its trainer, once again using its shell to slash at the Pokémon, Dokkora. The weirdly shaped Pokémon skidded back a bit, but didn't seem to hurt from the attack.

"Dokkora, use Bide."

Dokkora crossed its arms across its chest, appearing to be tightening its focus.

"Then we'll use this opportunity to beat you! Mijumaru, Tackle and then Shell Blade!"

Mijumaru charged towards Dokkora, slamming into it. It quickly caught itself from falling, taking off its shell and slamming it into Dokkora. Dokkora toppled over, falling unconscious.

N returned Dokkora without a word, pulling his cap down a bit and walking around the group as if he'd never talked to them or even battled Touya.

…Well, then he reached out and flipped Touya's hat off his hat. Mijumaru was quick to catch the hat, acting almost like if it had touched the ground, its trainer would've died. Mijumaru quickly put the hat on its own head, glaring at N.

Doc hurried up to N, grabbing onto his shirt and tilting her head to the side. "_Tabu_?"

N shook his head. "No, that's okay. Thank you, though."

And with that, N was gone. Meanwhile, Touya was trying to get his hat back from Mijumaru, who was fully intent on keeping the cap on its own head…


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Author's Notes: Ugh, this chapter was a pain to write... 'cause I went and translated it. I need to stop doing that...

Also, because I realized I can't make the questions in red, I just went and bolded it. So, uh, yeah.

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

Perhaps it wasn't the gym at all. It really was a museum. A museum… of fossils.

That's right, fossils were up everywhere on display. There was a skeleton of a Pokémon that looked like a dragon, and fossilized things were everywhere; leaves stuck in rocks, bugs in amber, a toenail in a rock…

No, there was no toenail in a rock.

"Uwaah! This thing is _huge_! What is it?" Danny pointed at the skeleton of the dragon-like Pokémon.

"That, my friend, would be a Dragonite!"

And suddenly, there was a glasses wearing man in a lab coat standing behind her. Naturally, Danny jumped back, but surprisingly resisted the urge to scream.

"Such an amazing fossil, isn't it? Its remains were found in a faraway region, and the bones were in surprisingly great condition, and we were lucky enough to have this fossil donated to us here in Shippou City! Oh, I'm sorry, I'm getting carried away, aren't I?"

The man paused his talking to look at Danny. "My name's Kidachi. Could I show you more of the things here?"

"Sure!"

With that, the man, Kidachi, began to walk off to another exhibit set up. "And this here is another amazing thing! It's mysterious, but it seems to radiate space energy!"

It was a meteorite there, but it certainly didn't look like something that would radiate "space energy." Despite that, Danny seemed intrigued by what Kidachi was telling her.

He led Danny up a flight of stairs, where an entrance to a library was. "And right beyond here in the Pokémon gym! Waiting there is the number one strongest, kindest Gym Leader every! By the way, the Gym Leader there is Aloe, and she's my wife!"

"Okay! I believe your word! She's the strongest, kindest Gym Leader ever!" With a nod, Danny hurried into the library, leaving Kidachi behind.

Once she was in the library, she was greeted by a guy who claimed his name was "Gaido" (which sounded a lot like guide.) He proceeded to tell her that in order to get to the Gym Leader's room, she'd have to read the books there.

How would reading a book help her get to the Gym Leader's room…?

And so, Danny began to wander around the library, climbing up the step ladders and taking a look at the books that seemed to sticking out of the shelves. She didn't really _read_ it as much as she skimmed through it.

That seemed to be good enough, though, because a note fell out of one of the books she was flipping through. She picked up the little piece of paper and read it.

"Fellow Pokémon trainer! This is the Gym Leader, Aloe. I've written four memos with problems for you to figure out. Can you find me by solving the problems! Now, for the first problem!"

Written in red was the problem for Danny…

"**The first Pokémon you fought in this gym was…?**"

Danny frowned. She hadn't fought anyone yet… She looked around the room, seeing three other people there; they were all reading, absorbed with the world of books. The first person she walked past in the room was…

Danny climbed down the ladder and walked over to where a young boy sat on a stool, reading. "Hey, you!"

He didn't seem to hear her, continuing to read.

"Heyyy! Hello?" Danny started snapping her fingers, and she finally got the boy's attention.

"Yes?"

"What Pokémon to you have?"

With a mischievous grin, the boy stood up, reaching for the Poké Ball on his belt. "I guess you'll have to find out! Go!"

Tossing the Poké Ball in the air, a Minezumi popped out, taking its place in front of its young trainer. Danny sent out her Pokabu, and quickly ordered an Ember attack from it.

Flames shooting out of its nose, Fire Pig burned the Minezumi, and then lunged at the chipmunk Pokémon, knocking it down and out. That had gone easier than she expected…

Suddenly, though, Fire Pig shuddered, almost like it was having a seizure. Danny heard her Pokédex beeping loudly and took it out to look at the screen. On its screen were the words, "Oh? Pokabu is glowing!"

Sure enough, now Pokabu was glowing, as well as growing. It was getting taller now, no longer on four legs, now standing on two…

When the light faded away, there was a different Pokémon there. Yes, it still looked a bit like Pokabu, with the piggish features. It had little fangs sticking out, and it looked a bit like it wearing a wrestler's outfit.

"Congratulations!" the screen displayed those words, followed by, "Your Pokabu evolved into Chaoboo!"

"Chaoboo, huh?" Danny said and looked at her Pokabu-turned-Chaoboo. "Heheh! You're still my Fire Pig though! Heheh!"

"_Buu_!"

"That's right, I need to answer that question!" Danny suddenly remember that and hurried off through the library yet again, Fire Pig hurrying after her. The two of them worked together to find the book they needed to find, although whether or not Fire Pig could read at all was unknown.

"_Buu_?"

Danny looked up from the book she was reading to see Fire Pig standing there, holding a book in its arms. It held out the book to Danny. "_Buu_?"

"You want me to read it to you?"

Fire Pig nodded eagerly, sitting down on the floor next to Danny, who was looking at the cover.

"Minezumi's Territory…? Oh, wait! If Minezumi was the Pokémon that we battled then…?" Danny began to flip through the books pages, looking for any notes. Sure enough, another one came out, also written in red like the previous note had been.

"As expected, that problem was simple for you. Now, for the second question! **The flame blazes up from inside its body, it blows smoke, and it runs. Now, what book is this?** A hint… someone else is reading this book!"

Shutting the book and hopping up, Danny looked around. Well… all the other people in the room were reading books, so that hint didn't help much. However, since she'd already battled the little boy at the beginning of the library, she headed to the second person in the room, a girl with glasses.

"Hey! You!"

The girl looked up, nodding. "You must've found the first two notes, so you'd want the third, right? Well, my book is called 'Pokabu'. Is that the book you're looking for?"

"Er… I don't… know."

The girl shook her head, showing Danny the book she was reading. "Look. My book says, 'It blows flames from its nose. When it's not feeling well, it blows out smoke instead.'"

"…Darn it…"

Danny walked away from the girl, Fire Pig following after her obediently. If that girl's book didn't have it then… That would leave the other woman in the room, right?

As Danny approached the woman, she almost mistook her for Makomo; they looked so alike they could've been siblings.

"Excuse me, miss!"

The woman giggled. "You must be looking for the third memo, aren't you? Here, show me what your memo says… The flame blazes up from inside its body, it blows smoke, and it runs. Well, my book is called 'The Structure of a Locomotive.' Is that what you're looking for?"

"…Yeah! That sounds like it!… I think."

"Ding ding! That's correct! It's talking about a train, by the way. And so, now," the woman paused to reach into her pocket. "You'll have to battle me!"

"Whaaat? Fine then! Go, Fire Pig!"

"I'll go with Haderia!"

The woman sent out a terrier-like Pokémon to battle Fire Pig.

"Fire Pig, use Nitro Charge!"

"Haderia, use Leer!"

Haderia began to glare at Fire Pig, who was surrounding itself in flames hot enough to burn the books surrounding them. Fire Pig then charged at Haderia, slamming into it with its flame covered body.

"Nitro Charge again!"

"Haderia, use Tackle!"

Fire Pig quickly charged at Haderia again, this time managing to knock the dog-like Pokémon unconscious.

The woman returned Haderia to its Poké Ball, stepping down from the step stool she was using to let Danny reach the books.

"Thanks!"

Danny quickly stumbled up the little ladder, grabbing the first book she saw; she'd already began to see a pattern in the books that had notes stuck them. The ones with notes were sticking out from the bookshelf.

She began to skim through its pages; it was the same book the woman she just battled had been reading, "The Structure of a Locomotive." She found the note and took it out, reading it…

"Good job getting here! That's what I expected from my challenge. Now, for the third question…** What's warm, bubbles in a pot, and is delicious to eat? A hint… this book is near the entrance!**"

And so, Danny climbed down the step ladder, put the book down on the floor, and hurried off to one of the bookshelves near the entrance. Fire Pig followed her obediently, as usual…

"Here it is!" Danny said, pulling a book off the shelf and opening it. "What? Pokémon Sweets?… Let's see… The Sinnoh region has sweets for Pokémon that are made in a pot, called "Poffins." Huh, I didn't know that… Oh, wait, the note, the note!" Danny quickly found the note and began to read it.

"Maybe that problem wasn't too hard. Or rather, maybe all the problems weren't too hard? But anyways, the final problem! **From this bookshelf… Back two, left one, down two, right one, back one… Now, where are you?** Hint… It's right behind you!"

Danny looked at Fire Pig, who was eagerly jumping and pointing to the bookshelf behind the one they were at. Danny simply decided to follow Fire Pig's directions and got up, going to bookshelf behind them, where the girl reading the book about Pokabu sat.

The girl giggled. "Could it be that you found the last memo and came to me? Now, for the final question from me… Can you go to the Gym Leader after beating me?"

"…Yeah!"

"Heheh… Now, let's battle, Ms. Trainer!" With that, the girl took out a Poké Ball and tossed it in the air, letting out a Yorterrie.

Fire Pig quickly hurried to take its place in front of its trainer, jumping excitedly, eager to battle…


	15. Chapter Fourteen VS Aloe

Author's Notes: Random way to start off the chapter, but yeah. Whatever.

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

"Huh…? Where am I…?"

Belle rubbed her eyes as she sat up, looking around at the Pokémon Center in confusion. She spotted Pearl sitting next to her, though, and she yawned.

"Oh… You're… uh…"

"I'm Pearl."

"…Right! Pearl… where is everyone else?"

"They all went off to the gym. I stayed behind to watch after you."

Belle smiled. "Thank you…" And then, the smile was gone, and she was looking down at the floor solemnly. "…Do you think my Munna's okay?"

With a nod of her head, Pearl answered, "I'm sure it's fine! Besides, those Team Plasma guys are a bunch of idiots, so they probably won't be able to do anything."

"…But they did kick that other Munna back at the Dream Site…"

Pearl looked at Belle for a moment, and then seemed to think about something. She then began to talk. "…I've got an idea. I'll tell you a story. It's about the time I traveled across the Hoenn region with my brother and my other friend, okay? Let's see… It all started when this girl moved to Littleroot Town and broke into our house…"

* * *

Danny had beat the last trainer in the library and was looking through the last book. She found the note and began to read it… But then, she heard a noise, like a button being pushed.

…And then the bookshelf began to move.

It moved slowly, sliding to the right side of the room. And as it moved, Danny could see that there was a flight of stairs going down underneath. Once the bookshelf stopped moving, Danny quickly hurried to the stairs and began going down them. Fire Pig was following her as usual.

There was a small room below. There were two glass cases with fossils in them, a table with books piled high, and bookshelves lining the room.

A woman was there, her hair puffy and standing high. Her skin was dark, and she wore a white shirt and blue jeans.

"Welcome!" She greeted Danny with a smile on her face. "I'm the Shippou Museum's curator, as well as the Gym Leader, Aloe! Now, Ms. Challenger, I'd like to do some research on how to fight any Pokémon raised with love! So! Let's start our battle, shall we?"

"All right! Go, Fire Pig!"

"I'll go with Haderia!"

As Fire Pig hopped around to take its place in front of its trainer, Aloe sent out her Haderia, the dog Pokémon glaring at Fire Pig in an attempt to intimidate it.

"Nitro Charge!"

"Take Down!"

Fire Pig moved first, covering itself in flames before tackling Haderia. In retaliation, Haderia slammed itself into Fire Pig, knocking the two of them down.

"Nitro Charge again!"

"And use Take Down again!"

Once again, the two Pokémon attacked each other with the same movers as before. However, Haderia seemed to be hurting itself every time it used Take Down…

"Nitro Charge!"

"Use Retaliation!"

Fire Pig slammed itself into Haderia yet again, and this time it managed to knock the dog Pokémon out; it slumped over to the ground, not moving.

Aloe returned Haderia to its Poké Ball and quickly sent out another Pokémon; it looked a lot like Minezumi, except it was taller, skinnier, and darker than Minezumi.

Danny seemed to think for a moment, and then she quickly returned Fire Pig to its Poké Ball. "Good job, Fire Pig!… Go, Doc!" Tabunne came out of her Poké Ball, tilting her head to the side with a "_Tabu_?"

"Miruhog, Retaliation!"

"Doc, Double Slap!"

Miruhog hurried up to Doc, releasing a fury of smacks and punches to the pink Pokémon. Doc managed to keep itself up despite that and began to smack Miruhog, once, twice, three times…

"Use Pound!"

"Retaliation again!"

Doc managed to move first this time, smacking Miruhog once again, but only once this time. Miruhog then released yet another bunch of punches on Doc; the Tabunne couldn't take it anymore, and she toppled over, having fainted.

"Good job, Doc!" Danny said as she returned Doc to her Poké Ball. "Okay… go, Fire Pig! Use Nitro Charge!"

With a snap of her fingers, Aloe ordered an attack from her Miruhog, "Use… Retaliation!"

Fire Pig covered itself in flames before slamming into Miruhog, knocking the weird Pokémon back a bit. Miruhog charged forwards, getting ready to attack Fire Pig…

…And Fire Pig quickly moved out of the way, making Miruhog's attack miss.

Danny seemed to enjoy this outcome, clapping her hands happily. "Hahah! Okay, Fire Pig! Use… Nitro Charge again!"

Fire Pig nodded eagerly, slamming into Miruhog again. This time, Miruhog fell backwards… And didn't get back up.

"Well, that's it!" Aloe said as she returned Miruhog to its Poké Ball. "You've defeated me! And so, here you are… the Basic Badge!"

Aloe walked off towards one of the bookshelves, taking out a book and opening it up. It… wasn't really a book at all. The inside was hollow, and filled with small badges. Aloe took one out and walked back to Danny, handing it to her.

"Yeah! We've got… the Basic Badge!" Danny shouted and struck a pose. Fire Pig joined her in the pose, attempting to do the same thing as her and pretty much failing.

The badge itself looked like the spine of a book… At least, that's what Danny thought it looked like.

"Mama!"

"…Mama…?" Danny asked and looked over to the staircase to see the man from before, Kidachi, rushing towards them.

"Mama! There's trouble! Big trouble! Some Team Plasma group is trying to steal a fossil from the museum!"

"What? You're serious?" Aloe looked down at Danny with a determined look. "You there! Come on, come with me!"

"Uh… okay!"

With that, the three of them hurried out of the room, rushing out of the library, and into the museum area. Sure enough, there were lots of those Team Plasma people around, surrounding the Dragonite fossil.

"Hey, you guys!" Aloe bellowed at them, getting their attention. "Joking around is okay, but you guys don't seem like you're joking!"

One of the Team Plasma guys responded to Aloe. "We of Team Plasma are here to free this dragon bone that resides here in the museum! We'll steal it right in front of you to show that we're serious!" He turned back to the others there. "Now! The smokescreen!"

One of the other Team Plasma members took out something and tossed it to the ground, resulting it a small explosion and the room was filled with white smoke. Kidachi was attempting to wave away the smoke with his coat, but it wasn't doing any good.

When the smoke finally disappeared, only the head of the Dragonite fossil was gone.

Aloe sighed and shook her head. "What a shame…"

…And then she was running out of the museum as fast as she could, probably to follow after the Team Plasma people.

"Ah… what do I do now…?" Danny mumbled, looking down at Fire Pig, who looked as confused as she did.

"Oh, Danny, there you are!"

Danny looked off to one corner of the museum where Touko was with Touya, Brendan, and Cheren. Touko had hurried over to her and was talking.

"Were you challenging the gym?"

Danny nodded. "Yep! I won!"

"That's great!… But, maybe we should follow after that lady and try to find Team Plasma… I mean, look! They stole its _head_."

"I know, that's such a shame… Oh! It's the headless fossil! Like, the headless horseman! Ahahah!"

And with that, Touko and Danny rushed out of the museum, off to be defenders of justice.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Author's Notes: Arti wears gay pants. He needs to be on "What Not to Wear." His hair looks like an artichoke. I'm hungry.

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

"Miss Aloe! Wait for us!"

Aloe looked behind herself to see that Touko and Danny were hurrying up to her. She was standing in front of the museum, though, so they didn't have to run and search for her.

"We're here to help!" Danny said and saluted.

"Oh, thanks-"

Just then, someone began to walk up to the group… A boy in bright green. His hair was brown, and Danny thought it looked a bit like an artichoke…

"Hey, Aloe. Have you found any good fossils lately?"

"Are you having another art block again?" Aloe asked, a knowing expression on her face. She then looked at Touko and Danny. "Oh, you two… I don't know your names, but this is Arti, the Gym Leader of Hiun City."

"…Huh? This is somehow a change of pace? By chance, would there happen to be something wrong?"

"Yes, there's something wrong! Someone stole something from the museum!"

And as Aloe and Arti began to talk, someone else hurried up to Touko and Danny. It was Belle, and Pearl.

"Hey, hey! Danny, why's everyone together?" Belle asked.

And then, out of the museum came Cheren, Brendan, and Touya, with Cheren beginning to answer Belle's question, "Yes, there is a problem. Team Plasma came and stole the head off a Dragonite."

Belle gasped. "…Did it die?"

"Cheren, you worded that a bit oddly."

"…It's a fossil, Belle, a fossil! I wouldn't casually mention that someone stole the head off a live Dragonite!"

Aloe was looking back at the group now, saying, "…Where'd all these kids come from? Oh, they're your friends?"

"How did you know that if we never answered the question?"

"What's your names? All of you, left to right!"

"I'm Touko! And this is Danny, Cheren, Brendan…" Touko paused to skip over Touya, "Belle and Pearl!"

"You just skipped me! I'm Touya!"

Aloe was nodding. "I see, I see! You're all trainers, right? And so, we'll all break into teams! First, Pearl and Belle! You two will stay at the museum! Touko, Danny, and Arti! You guys go to Yaguruma Forest and look for those thieves! Okay? I trust this to you three!"

Brendan raised his hand. "…What about us?"

"…Right! You go with these three to the forest and then you'll split off from them to look in the opposite direction! Now, let's go!"

"Roger!"

With that, Aloe ran off in the opposite direction, not bothering to tell them what she was going to do. Pearl and Belle went into the museum, and the rest of them followed Arti, who was apparently leading them to Yaguruma Forest.

"…Can I go heal my Pokémon first?" Danny asked as they followed him.

"…Hm? Oh, that's right, you probably should. I'll wait for you here, okay?"

"Roger that, captain!"

With that, Danny hurried off to the Pokémon Center. She returned in a couple of minutes, and they set off again. Walking towards the west exit of Shippou City, the city began to change to a grassy area, lined by a picket fence.

And ahead of them was a forest.

Trees, lots of them, were everywhere, shadowing the area with their green leaves…

"…Huh," Brendan mumbled as he looked up at the forest. "Even though it's fall, the leaves haven't changed color…"

"Fall? No, no, it's spring right now."

"Er… it's September, so that'd make it fall… autumn, right?"

"No, I just said it's spring. Next month it'll be summer."

"…Huh?"

Cheren coughed into his hand as he tapped on Brendan's shoulder. "That's right, you wouldn't know. Here in Isshu, it's spring during September, January, and May. Summer's during October, February, and June. Autumn is during November, March, and July. And winter is during December, April, and August."

"…The seasons here are really messed up…" Brendan grumbled.

"Anyways, let's split up and look for those thieves now, okay?" Arti asked them. All of them nodded and split up to look through the forest; Brendan, Touya, and Cheren looking in the opposite direction from the other three.

It didn't take too long for Brendan, Touya, and Cheren to find a Team Plasma member.

Apparently, the man was trying to hide among the trees, crouching down low to hide. It didn't work too well though; his outfit made him stick out like a sore thumb.

"…Should I just beat the crap out of all the Team Plasma guys I see?" Brendan asked, reaching for Swampert's Poké Ball.

"Sure, go ahead. We'll get down with this faster."

The Team Plasma man finally noticed the three of them and tried to stay still, as if that would help him with hiding.

"…We can see you, you know."

"…My disguise didn't work?"

"Not at all."

"Fine then! I'll battle you!" The man stood up, took out a Poké Ball, and sent out a brown, crocodile-like Pokémon. "Go, Meguroco!"

"Swampert, use Hydro Pump," Brendan ordered as he sent out his Swampert. Swampert saluted and took in a deep breath, sending out a jet of water at the Pokémon. It fainted from the single attack, and the Team Plasma man squealed like a little girl as he dropped down by his Pokémon.

Leaving that guy behind, the three boys continued on through the forest in search of any more of the Team Plasma people.

Well, it wouldn't be too hard to find a Dragonite's skull in a forest…

* * *

And on Danny, Touko, and Arti's side…

"Touko, from this angle, does my butt look big?"

"No, not really… What about my butt?"

"I don't know, I can't see it. All I can see is Arti's rainbow pants. Which makes his-"

"Shh, you two! There's someone ahead!"

The two of them quieted down and attempted to look ahead of the hollow log they were crawling through.

Sure enough, someone was there. Or rather, some people…

There was a Team Plasma person, as well as Brendan, Cheren, and Touya. Plus Brendan's Swampert.

"If you just give us the bone then my Swampert won't kill you. Okay?"

"No way! We're rescuing this Pokémon!"

"Um, one thing. It's _dead_, if you didn't notice that. How can you rescue a dead Pokémon?"

"I-it's not dead! Look, watch!" The man took out the Dragonite head and began to move its jaw up and down as if it were talking. "I'm… aliveeeeeee!"

"Oh, my god!" Swampert looked back at Brendan in surprise. "It talked! It really is alive!"

Brendan sighed and shook his head. "…Use Hydro Pump."

"If you say so, captain!"

With that, Swampert took in a deep breath and shot out a jet of water at the guy, who became soaked head to toe, and was shivering. Maybe out of fear, or out of coldness. It was most likely fear.

"I-I got it… I'll give it back…" the man mumbled, handing Brendan the skull. "Ugh… Our king's desire could not be achieved…"

The three boys suddenly turned around at the sound of someone walking towards them to see an old man in odd looking robes. He merely walked around them to stand next to the Team Plasma guy.

"Are you okay?" the old man asked. "You swore your loyalty to the king, and therefore you are an important friend."

"Oh, great Seven Sages! I regret having the dragon's bone being deprived from me right in front of you!"

The old man shook his head. "It's fine. We can just give up on the dragon's bone. The project was irrelevant to us of Team Plasma's search for the legendary Pokémon."

Now the old man was looking at Brendan, Cheren, and Touya. "But the interferance from you cannot be missed. This would make it the second time you've done so."

Arti looked back at the two girls and said, "Come on, let's go out there!"

"Okay…"

With that, the three of them hurried out of the hollow log and walked over to where the scene was taking place. Arti was acting rather casual about it…

"Oh, this is great! The bug Pokémon were telling me that my friends just beat a bunch of idiots! I can see it's true.~"

"Say what?"

And then, Aloe burst out of the trees, hurrying over to them. "Hey, you guys! We haven't found any of them on our side… Wait a sec!" She jabbed a finger at the old man and the Team Plasma guy. "Are you the big boss behind this?"

"I am one of Team Plasma's Seven Sages," the old man said. "The same Seven Sages that Geechisu speaks of wanting to release Pokémon."

Brendan turned his head away and coughed into his hand, "Ahem, crackhead, ahem…"

"We remaining Seven Sages teach our colleagues about deprived Pokémon! But, this right now is terrible! The bug Pokémon user Arti and the normal Pokémon user Aloe… Know your enemy, know thyself, and you shall not fear a hundred battles…

"And this is where we'll humbly pull out. But remember this! We will release the Pokémon captured by trainers! And you Gym Leaders… We will forgive your interference this one time. Now, let us leave…"

With that, the old man and the Plasma guy who hadn't said a word left the forest…

"You guys are fast!" Aloe began talking, looking down at the kids. "What should we do, Arti? Should we chase those guys?"

"Well, we've already got the stolen bone back, so… there's no need to," Arti said that with a wave of his hand. "In that case, I'll be returning to my gym in Hiun City. I'll be awaiting your challenges, all of you!"

With one last wave, Arti turned around and began walking through the forest again, humming some song to himself…

"Well, thanks, you guys!" Aloe said, turning her attention back to everyone else. "With your help, we got the Dragonite's bone back!"

Touya was shaking his head. "No, no, Brendan here did all the work. We were useless."

"…Oh, I forgot, here's the head back," Brendan said, handing Aloe the skull.

"Thanks a lot, all of you! Oh, that's right, let me give you a gift!…" Aloe reached into her pants pocket, handing Brendan a black stone. "Here's a Moon Stone!"

"…Do you just carry Moon Stones in your pocket 24/7?"

"Hahah!… Maybe so!"

Aloe began to affectionately pat Brendan's head, leaving him wondering if all Isshu people were just out of their minds.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

Author's Notes: Well, they just announced the English names for the Isshu starters. Tepid, Oshawott, and Snivy. I'm not even kidding. D: Also, Isshu's been renamed to "Unova."

...This is why I'm getting the Japanese version of the game.

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

It happened that night as everyone sat in the Pokémon Center. They were all eating at the cafeteria area, talking to each other. And then…

"…Guys, I think someone's stalking me."

Cheren calmly looked up at Danny, answering, "…What're you talking about?"

"Someone's stalking me. I can feel it."

Belle stopped eating to focus down at the table. In a second, she looked back up at Danny, her face serious as she said, "…You're right! I feel it too!"

"You two are out of your minds."

"Cheren's soooo mean!"

"Yeah, totally!… But, I'm serious. Ever since we left Yaguruma Forest, I keep on getting this feeling that someone's following me, you know?"

Suddenly, people in the Pokémon Center began screaming and jumping away from the window. Naturally, anyone who didn't scream went to go look at the window…

…There was some kind of caterpillar thing, its face smushed up against the window. It was moving, pressing against the window, as if it would suddenly gain the strength to break it. Of course, that wouldn't be happening anytime soon; it was a very tiny Pokémon.

"What the what is that?"

Cheren pushed his glasses up his nose, looking at the caterpillar thing. "…That would be a Kurumiru. And, uh…"

Cheren paused to stare at the Pokémon, who was now beginning to make bubbling noises, string coming out of its mouth.

Cheren turned around and walked back to the table they'd been sitting at, starting to eat his food again as if nothing had ever happened.

"It's so cute!~ But why's it trying to blow spit bubbles?"

"Is that what it's doing? I couldn't tell."

Suddenly, Danny stepped back from the window and began running off through the Pokémon Center, hurrying out of its entrance and walking around the building until she found the spot that the Kurumiru was at. It still had its face on the window, and Danny could hear it making bubbling noises.

"Heyyy! You there, little Pokémon!"

Kurumiru turned around to look up at Danny, bubbling some more.

"Were you following me today?"

With that, Kurumiru began to walk over to Danny, bubbling and walking rather slowly. It stopped once it reached Danny, looking up at her.

"Yeah, yeah! You were, you were! Come here, come to mama!"

…Regardless, she picked up Kurumiru, hugging it to herself, and walked back into the Pokémon Center, where her friends were waiting for her.

"Here it is! The culprit… my stalker was the Kurumiru!"

Belle began clapping her hands, appearing to be very interested in this. Everyone else simply went back to their table and resumed eating, leaving Belle and Danny behind.

"Hey… guys, that's not nice! You're making me lonely! I caught a new Pokémon… So someone should praise me!"

Touya looked up at her and gave her the thumbs-up sign. "Good job!"

"Come on! Someone praiseeee meeee!"

…Apparently, Touko wasn't the only one who couldn't see Touya, or hear him. Touya was very, very disappointed…

* * *

After a night of very disrupted sleep (Danny's Kurumiru, who Danny insisted _had_ to stay out of its Poké Ball, had continued to make bubbling noises throughout the night,) everyone was up and getting ready for yet another day of… something.

"I'm going to challenge the gym today," Cheren simply said, leaving the Pokémon Center with Touko, Brendan, and that other boy whose name might've been Touya.

Belle was nervously mumbling whether or not she should challenge the gym ("But, without my Munna… Could I…? Yes, I could! Pokabu is super strong!") and Danny was busy trying to come up with a name for her noisy Kurumiru.

"Bubbles? Should I call you that? No, no, that's no good… Let's see, yesterday you were pressing on the glass, but… Oh, there's a name! I'll call you… The Mighty Tiger!"

"_Kuu_?"

"Belle, Belle! I found out a nickname for Kurumiru… The Mighty Tiger!"

"Eheh, he does look like a mighty tiger! Go on, Mighty Tiger!… Roar for us!"

Kurumiru, now The Mighty Tiger, looked up at the two of them and then began to make a sad attempt to roar. "_Kuuuuruuu_!"

"So scary!"

"Roar again!"

"_Kuuuuuu_!"

"Eeyyaaah!"

…Well, this wasn't going to end anytime soon, and so, we will check on our friends at the gym…

* * *

"Use Shell Blade, Mijumaru!" shouted the boy whose name might be Touya. On command, his Mijumaru removed its shell, taking aim at the Pokémon it was battling and slashing at it. The Pokémon, a Miruhog, didn't seem to stand a chance against the attack, tumbling backwards and fainting.

Aloe began clapping her hands, saying, "Good job! Alright, just wait a moment and I'll get your badge…"

With a sigh, Touya reached down to pick up his Mijumaru. Holding onto his Pokémon tightly, he looked back up at the staircase, where the sounds of shouting could be heard…

…And then Cheren hurried down the stairs, or rather, fell down the stairs. He quickly got up and fixed his glasses. "Did you finish your battle? Brendan and I can't keep Touko up there forever."

"I did, and thanks."

Aloe walked back over to Touya, handing him the small badge. "Hmm? Why don't you want her down here?"

"Well, it's just…" Touya began and looked away. "…She's evil. Pure evil. Pure evil in a pair of short shorts and a baseball cap."

Naturally, Aloe was confused on what Touya was talking about, but didn't question it. Touya had taken out a small case, placing the badge in the second space from the left. There was also the Tri Badge from the Sanyou Gym, but when did he ever get that badge…?

"Thank you, Ms. Aloe!" Touya said, bowing slightly and walking back towards the stairs. As he went up them, though, Touko had begun to hurry down them. Naturally, they slammed into each other.

…Or rather, Touko pushed him out of her way, slamming him into a wall and not bothering to even notice him.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

Author's Notes: FFFUUUUU- Sky Arrow Bridge is amazing.

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

"So, when are we gonna leave for the next city?"

"Whenever Belle comes back from wherever she went. By the way, where did she even go?"

"To the gym, I tink."

"You mean, I think."

"No, I tink. Jeez, Cheren, learn your words correctly."

"…"

Cheren and Danny were sitting next to each other in the Pokémon Center, waiting for everyone else to join them. They'd planned to go to Hiun City, which was rather close to Shippou City, and challenge the gym there. That said, the only ones who were ready were Cheren, who'd already got his things together, and Danny, who didn't really have anything in the first place.

"Cheren, Cheren! I nicknamed my Kurumiru!"

"Oh? What'd you name it? Leafy Caterpillar?"

"No… But that's a great name! No, no, I named it… The Mighty Tiger!"

"…"

Cheren made the smart decision of not saying anything to her.

* * *

Meanwhile, Brendan was attempting to figure out how to work the phones in the Pokémon Center. They were built differently that the ones he was used to seeing, and he couldn't seem to read what the buttons said…

"Need some help?"

Brendan looked up to see Touya standing next to him. "…Err… Yeah, I do need some help."

"Here, I'll dial the number for you. What is it?"

As Brendan recited the phone number for Touya, he felt somewhat ashamed that he had to ask someone else to dial the number for him…

After a bit of ringing, someone answered the phone; despite the fact that it was a video phone, no picture of the person talking came up. Which was because of the fact that the person Brendan was calling was talking on a regular phone.

"Hi there," Brendan started talking. "Is this, uh, Norman?"

"Yes… who is this?"

"It's Brendan. Brendan Birch."

There was a short pause, and then the man, Norman, was talking at the speed of light. "Oh, hey, Brendan, how are you? How's your sister? And your father? Rather, how is the Isshu region? Are you having fun? Did you catch any Pokémon? Are you traveling with anyone? How's the weather there? Are-"

"Enough, one question at a time, please. Jeez… Pearl and I are doing fine, and Dad is… being the crazy animal he is. You know, the usual. Thank Arceus that he doesn't have his jeep… And the Isshu region is great, and Pearl's already caught a Pokémon. And we're traveling with a bunch of other people, too. Also, the seasons here are totally messed up. Right now, it's spring here. Next month will be summer."

Brendan paused his talking to glance at Touya, who seemed a bit interested in who he was talking to. "Oh, sorry, Touya. I'm talking to Norman; he's a Gym Leader in the Hoenn region, as well as my next door neighbor."

"…Oh, really?" Touya seemed just a little bit excited, standing closer to Brendan so he could hear what Norman was saying.

"Oh, Brendan, you probably want to talk to Raven, don't' you?" Norman laughed.

Putting his hand over the phone, Brendan turned back to Touya. "Raven's his daughter. We traveled around the Hoenn region together. She's a pain in the ass."

And back to the phone now, "No, I didn't want to talk to her in particular. I just wanted to let you guys know how we were doing."

"Oh, is that so…? Well, even if you'd wanted to talk to Raven, she isn't here. I think she went back to Sinnoh… Or was it Johto? Kanto, maybe…? I don't even know."

"Okay, then. See ya."

"Right. Thanks for letting us know how you're doing. We all appreciate it."

With that, Brendan hung up the phone, looking back at Touya, who seemed amazed. "…What is it?"

"It's, uh, nothing. You just talked to him like you… uh…"

Touya shook his head, saying, "Never mind!" and turning around to walk away. "Come on! We should get back to the others.

Brendan simply shrugged and followed him.

* * *

Danny was waiting for Belle outside the Shippou Museum/Gym. She didn't have to wait long; Belle soon came out of the gym, whistling to herself as she looked down at the sidewalk.

"Belle!"

Belle didn't respond, still absorbed with looking at the sidewalk.

"…Belle!"

Still no response.

Danny ran up to Belle, grabbing her by her shoulders and shouting, "Belle!"

"…Whoa! Danny, when'd you get here?"

"For a while, actually. Anyways," Danny pointed off somewhere. "We… are setting out!"

"Really? Where, where to?"

"…I don't remember what the name of it was. But we were just waiting for you to come back. Oh, yeah, I forgot! Did you beat the leader?"

With a silly grin on her face, Belle held out a small case; in the second space was the badge from the gym.

"Woohoo! Way to go!"

Still grinning, Belle thanked Danny and, together, the two of them began heading back to the Pokémon Center…

* * *

And so, after a quick role call, the group set out for Hiun City. Iris had joined them, although she refused to tell everyone else where she'd been.

Entering Yaguruma Forest, they began walking down a paved path that didn't go through the tall grass at all. Walking over a small bridge that crossed a river and continuing down the path, the end of the forest soon came into view; sunlight poured in through the exit.

Stepping out onto a platform, they all stopped to look at the place in front of them.

Or, rather, the bridge in front of them.

It was long, very long, going out over the ocean. At the end of it, which was rather far away, a city could be seen…

"Come on, guys, let's go!" Danny shouted happily, going into the walkway that joined to the platform. Belle followed her eagerly, as well as Iris. The others eventually followed them, albeit slower than the three girls.

"Whoa, look, look!" Pointing down, Danny hopped around excitedly as she looked down at the road below them; cars drove up and down the road. The three of them were up on a walkway that was apart of the bridge; in this way, people could walk across the bridge, or drive across it.

"You've never been here before?" Iris asked and sighed, shaking her head. "Such a kid."

"Danny, Danny, look! Cars!" Belle shouted excitedly. Iris sighed once again, walking past the two and going down the walkway.

"Come on, you guys!" Iris called and the two scrambled after her.

The bridge seemed to go on forever, although it wasn't just in a straight line; it curved several times. In the ocean below them, ships could be seen going under the bridge…

"…Okay, I'm exhausted."

"Me too!"

"What, already? You guys are such kids!"

Regardless, Iris stayed with Danny and Belle as they sat down to catch their breath. Iris looked up as she spotted Brendan, Pearl, Touko, Cheren, and that other boy finally catching up to them.

Belle suddenly jumped up, followed by Danny. "…We can't let them catch up to us!"

"Hurry, Belle! We must dash! Dash, dash, as fast as you can!"

The two girls then bolted off, running as fast as they could. Iris hurried after them, shouting, "You guys! Wait for me!"

"…What the-? We just caught up to them and now they're running some more?" Cheren mumbled.

"I guess so…" Pearl sighed. "Whatever. We're the normal people, who take our time and don't rush… Either way, the view up here is really nice…" Pearl looked down at the cars, mumbling something to herself…

At the end of the bridge, a flight of stairs led the pedestrian walkway back down to the ground. Unfortunately, neither Danny, Belle, or even Iris noticed this, and so they ended up tripping and falling down the stairs.

"…"

When the other four plus the invisible boy reached the end of the bridge, Iris, Belle, and Danny were still laying on the ground.

"…I wish I could come up with some smart-ass remark to say about this, but sadly, I can only laugh."

And that was what Brendan did. He laughed, and laughed, and laughed. In a way, it was sort of funny… In an evil way.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

Author's Notes: This chapter is, in a way, Danny-centric. Or not. Rather, other people begin to think of her as suspicious...

* * *

Chapter Eighteen

Hiun City was, in one word, beautiful. It was an amazing city, so amazing that all eight children stood there in awe. Even Iris, who claimed that she'd already been there, was looking at it in awe. Of course, she was the first one to recover from her shock, coughing into her hand and getting their attention.

"Ahem, I welcome all of you to Hiun City!" She walked in front of them and spread her arms wide, as if to show them the city.

Danny gasped. "Are you gonna be our tour guide?"

Iris seemed to think about this for a moment before answering, "…Yes. Yes, I'm your tour guide! Follow me!"

Of course, the only ones who followed Iris were Belle, Danny, and Touko, who also seemed interested in "Iris the tour guide."

"Anyways, we should find the Pokémon Center first," Cheren said, pushing up his glasses.

"Right! Let's go, then!"

And so, Cheren, Pearl, Brendan, and that other boy wandered off to go find the Pokémon Center.

* * *

"Iris… did you get us lost?"

"I did _not_! I know exactly where I am!"

"Where is that?"

"Somewhere in Hiun City!"

Well, Danny really continued argue back about that… She did answer the question, after all…

Soon enough, Iris stopped walking and turned around to look at Danny. "…Say, Danny! What day of the week is it?"

"…Um… I don't know."

"You should go get some Hiun Ice Cream! It's really good!"

Belle suddenly clasped her hands together. "Oohh! I wanna go! I wanna go!"

"Er… you can't! Danny, go get us three some ice cream, 'kay?"

"…Fine…" Danny grumbled that and turned around, walking through the streets in search of a place that sold "Hiun Ice Cream." Iris had never told her exactly where it was… And Danny didn't bother to question why Iris didn't want Belle to go with her.

She found the place easily; it was a stand set up on the side of one of the many streets. It was bright pink, and stood out like a sore thumb…

Buying three ice creams, one for her, Belle, and Iris, Danny began wandering through the streets again. Now she remembered something… Iris never told her where she'd be waiting. Looks like she'd have to try and find her.

Eating her own ice cream cone and wandering about, she eventually ended end at the start of the city again, where all the harbors were. And then, she spotted them… Or rather, every one of her friends. They'd all gathered in one of the piers, appearing to be talking.

…Obviously, it must've been something they didn't want her to hear, if they didn't bother to go find her. And so, it was time.

For Danny the super spy.

Remaining unnoticed, she got as close to the pier they were at as she could, crouching down behind a garbage can and listening to them talk.

"I believe we've found Belle's Munna," one of them said; it was Arti, Danny could tell that just from his voice.

"Really?" Belle asked excitedly. "I.. Thank you so much!"

"Don't be thanking me just yet. I mean, we've spotted Team Plasma here in Hiun City, and I believe that one of them may have your Munna."

"What makes you so sure of that?" Brendan asked.

"Well, someone I know told me that they spotted one of them, and they were talking about having a Munna with them at the moment."

"Not to really change the subject, but… is someone missing from our group?" Cheren asked.

"Oh, yeah… Danny went to go get ice cream for us! She'll be really happy to hear that they found Munna!"

"…Actually, just wait a moment!" Iris said. "That girl… I don't trust her."

"Why not?" Touko asked.

"…I think she might be apart of Team Plasma."

"Whaaattt? Why? What makes you think that?"

"Oh, come on, just think about it! This girl… we don't know where she's from! Brendan and Pearl, you guys said she followed you from Hiun City to Kanoko Town, right? I mean, don't you think it's a little suspicious? And Belle's Munna just mysteriously goes missing when she went to go look for Pokémon with her? That's why I didn't want her here with us right now! The last thing we need is for a spy of Team Plasma to be listening to us and then telling her coworkers that we're getting ready to get Belle's Munna back from them!"

Silence followed this, everyone apparently thinking about what Iris said. Suddenly, though, Belle started talking…

"That's not true! Iris… how could you say something like that? Danny wouldn't… Danny isn't a spy from Team Plasma! She's my friend! And… I'm gonna go look for her!"

Belle began walking away from the group, despite the protests of Iris and Arti. She happened to pass by the garbage can where Danny was hiding and spotted her.

"…Danny!"

"…"

Danny stood up, looking over at where everyone else was; they all seemed surprised to see that she'd been hiding there, naturally.

"Danny… did you hear that?"

"…Yeah."

"T… Tell them! Tell them that you're not apart of Team Plasma!"

Danny looked back at everyone else again, saying, "…I'm not apart of Team Plasma. I… just came here because my cousin wanted me to. I didn't mean to be suspicious, or anything like that. Aside from my cousin wanting me to come here, I… wanted to get my own Pokémon, to travel with a lot of people and to be a really good Pokémon trainer…"

"How do we know you're not lying right now, huh?" Iris snapped.

Danny frowned. "…If you don't want to believe me, that's fine. I'll… just go somewhere else. I won't bother you guys again, I'll just travel by myself…"

Belle shook her head, grabbing a hold of her hands. "You won't travel by yourself! I'll go with you! 'Cause… Danny, I trust you! I know you aren't a bad person! Now, come on! Let's go!"

With that, Belle began walking away with Danny, the two of them wandering off somewhere in the city…

Brendan sighed, shaking his head. "Great job there, Iris. Look at what you did."

"I… I didn't do anything! It was a reasonable suggestion!"

"Yeah, and now look. Belle and Danny left, and they probably won't be coming back either. I have to praise you for that, kid."

"Don't call me a kid!" Iris snapped and spun around, running off. "I've gotta find Belle and protect her! I still don't trust that girl!"

"…This might be bad…" Arti muttered. "Listen, I'll stop Iris. You guys… try to find Team Plasma, okay?"

"Right!"

Arti began hurrying off after Iris, and Brendan, Pearl, Touko, Touya, and Cheren began to look for Team Plasma…

* * *

After quickly beating up three Team Plasma grunts who were standing in front of a building (because that wasn't suspicious at all,) Belle and Danny headed into the building where a green haired man in weird looking robes and two old men in similar robes stood.

"Hmm? Two girls are here… Did you defeat the three outside or something?"

"Yeah! They're pathetically weak. Anyways, give back Belle's Munna!"

The man mumbled something to himself before talking to them again, "…Have you heard of the Isshu region's legend?"

"…No!"

Belle shrugged. "I haven't either!… I think."

And then, someone else behind the two girls began talking; it was Iris, having found them. "I do! You're talking about the white and black dragons… Reshiram and Zekrom, aren't you?"

"That's correct…" he said and began walking back and forth in front of them. "What would happen if all the fighting people in this world were brought together? You see, those two Pokémon used to be one Pokémon, and it ruled the land with its two masters. However, its masters began to fight, which led to the single Pokémon being split into two.

"Eventually, though, the people began to fear the Pokémon, and put them to an eternal rest.

"And so, with that Pokémon, our Team Plasma could rule the world!"

"…What's this guy talking about?"

"I don't know. Can you give us the Munna back now?"

Suddenly, other people came into the building; specifically, Arti, Brendan, Pearl, Cheren, Touko, and that other boy Touya. Arti began talking…

"I thought you guys were all about releasing Pokémon from trainers? The way you're talking, you sound like you're contradicting your speech from back in Karakusa Town. I like Pokémon, and so I'll confront anyone who doesn't think so! Also, I thought you guys wanted to strengthen the bonds between humans and Pokémon?"

At that, the man began laughing loudly. He quickly stopped, though, to start talking again, "It seems like you lost your temper a bit there. It doesn't matter what you say though; we Seven Sages will gather information around the world for our king!" He stopped talking to look back at one of the Team Plasma grunts standing there. "You there, return the girl's Pokémon."

"Uh… r-right!"

At that, one of them released a Pokémon from its Poké Ball; it was Munna, in fact. Munna looked around in confusion and then, spotting Belle, became happy and floated over to her quickly.

"T… Thank you so much!" Belle cried, hugging onto her Munna tightly. "Little Mun, welcome back!"

"This is your important Pokémon that those bad guys took?" Iris asked.

"Yep! Munna's all okay though!" Belle replied; then, realizing who asked her that, looked away from her, hugging Munna.

"This… is the beautiful friendship between a person and a Pokémon!" the man said, catching the attention of everyone in the room. "You see, I wish to release Pokémon from people… who don't have that friendship, people who are worthless. And now… let us leave."

With that, the man, plus the two old men who'd remained silent the entire time, and the three Team Plasma grunts left the building…


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Author's Notes: Though it's short, important things happen in this chapter! Also, thanks to Light-Sakura, who's reviewed every time I added new chapters! :D

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

"Have you guys seen Iris anywhere?"

Belle and Cheren looked up from where they were sitting with Belle's Munna; Cheren seemed to be interested in the Pokémon, staring at it intently while Belle pat its head.

Cheren answered, "I think she was at one of the piers… Why?"

A smile on her face, Danny simply answered, "That's a secret!"

* * *

Much like Cheren had said, Iris was at one of Hiun City's piers, watching the sun set. She felt pretty bad already; neither Belle nor Danny would talk to her, and Brendan kept on calling her a kid. Of course, the latter wasn't anything new, but…

"Oi, Iris!"

Iris looked up and spotted, of all people, Danny walking towards her.

"Here you go!"

Danny held out an ice cream cone to Iris. "Sorry, though; I lost the other two I got earlier for you and Belle. I might've accidentally ate them…"

Taking the ice cream and mumbling "thank you," Iris went back to look at the water; after all, the ocean wouldn't get mad at her, even if she said it was working for Team Plasma.

Danny went ahead and sat down next to Iris, loudly saying, "Oohhh, the ocean's so cool! I remember seeing it while we were in the plane!"

"Um… Danny-"

"You know… I think I've mentioned it a couple of times already, but my cousin wanted me to come here. She herself couldn't go because she didn't have the money to buy a ticket. But then, she and her friends worked together to get some money, but it was only enough to buy one ticket. But, you know, they all wanted to go, so they were arguing on who should go.

"But then, I guess she remembered something, and she called me and asked me if I wanted to come here. And I was all like, 'Hell yeah!' And then, she began working with some other people to fix my cell phone…"

Danny stopped talking to reach into her pocket and take out her cell phone. "She managed to, like, rebuild it so that it could connect to a lot of things, like… um… what was it? A Pokégear, a Pokénav, and a Pokétch? No, not the last one, but I think the other two…

"Anyways, she wanted me to take pictures of everything and anything and send them to her! And that's why I'm here… To take pictures! It's, like… a picture diary!"

"…Oh… Okay… Er… Danny, I'm so sorry for saying those things earlier… But… why are you still talking to me?"

"Huh? 'Cause I don't want to hate you! We're friends, right? So, come on! Let's take a picture together! Come on, come here!"

With a sigh, Iris put her arm around Danny's shoulders, Danny doing the same, and they both grinned as Danny held out the phone and took a picture…

* * *

Later on that night, everyone let out their Pokémon so they could meet one another (which they hadn't already done, apparently.)

"…Hm… You guys can't speak human, can you?" Brendan's Swampert asked, looking over the group of Pokémon.

"_Tabu_."

"Yeah, you can't… Huh…"

Another of Brendan's Pokémon, a green, lizard-like Pokémon with a large leaf on its head, began speaking. "If that's so, maybe we should teach them how to speak… Just kidding."

"Oh, my Arceus! Grovyle, that's a brilliant idea! Okay, everyone, listen up! Tonight, we'll be teaching you how to speak human! Okay?"

All the Pokémon cheered back to Swampert, and Grovyle sighed and shook his head.

"Alright! Let's start with… hello!"

The other Pokémon struggled to reply, but only their own names would come out.

…This was going to take a while.

* * *

After yet another restless night of sleep (although only for Cheren, who was busy trying to get everyone from sleeping in the same bed as him,) everyone began to get ready to go to the gym there.

"Say, where'd we leave our Pokémon at?"

"Somewhere here, I think."

"…"

And then, Danny jumped up, raising her hand in the air. "Don't worry! I'll go find them! Just sit tight and wait, 'kay?"

Belle also jumped up, following Danny out of the room, presumably to go find their Pokémon.

It wasn't too hard of a search; after all, Brendan's own Pokémon stood out from the rest since they weren't from Isshu.

"Hey, there you guys are!" Danny shouted, waving her arm at them.

Doc was the first to answer her, running over and hugging her leg. "Good morning!"

"Morning, Doc!" Danny said back, patting the Tabunne's head.

Belle, on the other hand, was staring at Doc like it was some kind of alien. "Um… Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"Did that Pokémon just… talk?"

Danny seemed to think about it for a moment and then looked back down at Doc. "…Did you just talk to me?"

"Yes!"

Brendan's Swampert casually waved at the two girls. "I was teaching all of them how to talk last night! So, now, they can! Isn't that awesome?"

All the Pokémon eagerly replied back to Swampert, "It's awesome!"

Belle and Danny didn't know what to do about this.


	21. Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

"Wait, let me get this straight… All of our Pokémon can talk now?"

"Yup."

"And we can understand them?"

"Yep!"

"…And they learned all of this overnight?"

"Yep!"

Cheren removed his glasses and began to rub the side of his head, mumbling something to himself.

"What, you don't believe us?" Danny asked and looked back at where all of their Pokémon stood together in a group, watching them. "Come on, guys! Show Cheren that you can talk!"

"Pi is 3.14159!"

"I'm hungry!"

"Yeah, yeah! Can we have breakfast?"

At that, Cheren put his glasses back on, turned around, and walked away from the group as if he hadn't heard or seen anything that had just happened.

And then, Touko walked over to Danny, watching Cheren walk away. "What's wrong with Cheren? Where's he going?"

"He denied the existence of talking Pokémon."

Touko suddenly looked at Danny in surprise. "…That… wasn't your voice."

"I realize that. That was me, talking. Down here, look down."

Touko looked down at the ground to see her Tsutarja looking back up at her. "…Huh?"

"I'm the one talking to you," her Tsutarja answered.

Touko suddenly fell to the ground, being caught by Danny. Touko could only manage to stare at the Pokémon in shock, stammering, "M-m-my Pokémon… is… talking."

Tsutarja snorted. "Jeez! Just think how we reacted when we realized that _you _guys could talk!"

* * *

"Okay… so looks like it's just me and you going to the gym, huh?" Danny asked, looking over at Belle.

Belle nodded. "Yep. I'm sure everyone else will come once they recovered from the shock of talking Pokémon!"

"What a bunch of drama queens."

"I know, right?"

With that, Belle and Danny set off from the Pokémon Center in search of Hiun City's gym. While everyone else was back in the center, unconscious, with Brendan and Pearl watching over them.

"Belle? Do you know where the gym is?"

"Hmm…? Oh, no. I don't."

"…"

Belle sheepishly grinned, answering to Danny's silent comment. "I'm sure we can find it though! If worst comes to worse, we'll have to ask someone!"

"Yeah, yeah! Let's go!"

Despite being fairly early, lots of people were already up and about; women and men in suits rushed down the roads, looking through their suitcases, talking on cell phones, looking at their watches.

Naturally, on their search for the gym, the two of them got distracted multiple times, stopping to buy things, to talk to street performers, to wonder where the hell they were.

Well, it didn't matter. After all, these two always go at their own pace…!

* * *

Touko and Cheren were the first ones to find Belle and Danny, as well as apparently being the first ones to recover from their shock.

"What're you two doing? We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"…" Belle blinked a couple of times, looked at Danny, and then back at Touko and Cheren. "…Um, what _were_ we doing anyways…?"

"Ohhh… I think we were looking for the gym! Yeah, yeah, that's what we were doing! I totally forgot!"

"Oh, yeah! Well, since Touko, Cheren, and Touya are here, let's all go together!"

"…? Oh, Touya's here?"

Sure enough, Touya had been there along with Touko and Cheren the entire time, and was looking away with a depressed expression on his face.

"Then, let's go!~"

Finally getting back on track, the four… er, five trainers began searching for the gym. Of course, with some reliable people in the group now, they were able to find it easily…

"Ehhhh, this is the gym? I thought that since that Arti guy ran it, it'd be, like, bright red and green," Danny simply said.

"And black, don't forget his pants had black on them!" Touko chimed in.

"Right, right. Anyways, let's go!"

With that said, the five of them pushed open the gym doors and walked inside…

"Ho… ly… shit."

Not only was the gym designed like a beehive, but the walls were made of honey…

…This would surely be a "sticky" challenge!

* * *

That pun I made is inexcusable! Please kill me for it!


	22. Chapter Twenty One VS Arti

Author's Notes: I like this chapter a lot, actually. Probably because it sheds some light on the Pokemons' personalities. I like Fire Pig's personality. |3

But it's Touya who really stars in this chapter... I'm so mean to him, though. XD

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One

"Just leave this to me, Danny! I'll get us to the Gym Leader in no time… and protect you from those creepy clowns! Jeez, I hate clowns!" Fire Pig shuddered, rubbing his arms as if he'd got a sudden chill. He quickly recovered from his momentary clown fear, puffing his chest up proudly. "I'll just pick you up and jump over the walls!"

With that, Fire Pig began to pick up Danny, although this didn't seem to be working very well; he could barely lift her an inch off the ground. Doc and The Mighty Tiger watched from nearby, with Doc clicking her tongue.

"That's not gonna work, you know," Doc said, with The Mighty Tiger nodding eagerly.

Fire Pig quickly gave up on picking up his trainer, trying to think of other possible ways to reach the Gym Leader and avoid the clowns in the gym at the same time.

All the trainers in the gym were clowns, as they all found out. Though all the clowns looked exactly alike, and they could've been the same clown each and every time… So there'd only be one clown in the gym?…

"Or!" Touko's Tsutarja chimed in; its voice sounding very much like an old man. "You could simply be like everyone else and battle the clowns in your way and properly figuring out the puzzle."

"Oh, hell no! I hate clowns! Hate 'em!"

Danny, who'd said nothing the entire time and just seemed to be amused at hearing the Pokémon talk, finally spoke up. "Fire Pig, if you don't want to face the clowns, that's okay! I'll just have you stay in your Poké Ball the entire time so you won't have to look at them!"

Fire Pig looked momentarily touched at his trainer's kindness, blinking back imaginary tears. "You… you'd do that? For me?" He quickly shook his head, though, and puffed up his chest again. "…No! I'll face the clowns, regardless of my fear! Bring it on, clown boys!"

Grabbing onto Danny's hand, Fire Pig charged off to where one clown once, fully intent on beating the crap out of the clown…

…Until the clown spoke, that is, and then he screamed like a little girl and ran back to the gym entrance.

* * *

Touya was the first of the group to reach Arti, having gone unnoticed by the clown trainers, who were busy battling his other friends. Or maybe they just didn't notice him. It was most likely the latter.

"So, it looks like you're the first of your friends to reach me, hmm?" Arti asked as Touya walked over to where he was. "Well, then, let's battle, shall we?"

Touya nodded, quickly tossing a Poké Ball in the air and letting out his Mijumaru. "Mijumaru, let's go!"

Arti also let out his own Pokémon, a gray, insect-like one that was curled up into a ball; it was practically impossible to see what it looked like aside from its shell, though its eyes could be seen, bright yellow, watching Mijumaru. "I'll go with Hoiiga, then. Hoiiga, please use Poison Tail!"

"Mijumaru, use Shell Blade!"

Mijumaru moved first, removing the shell off its stomach and charging forwards. It slashed the shell at Hoiiga, slamming it into the Pokémon as hard as it could. Hoiiga rolled backwards just a bit, but then it began rolling towards Mijumaru, an appendage on its body seeping with poison, striking Mijumaru with it.

"Mijumaru, Water Pulse!"

"Hoiiga, use Poison Tail again!"

This time, instead of directly attacking Hoiiga, Mijumaru took in a deep breath and fired off a ring of water at Hoiiga; the water crashed into it, rolling it backwards and… knocking it out as well. Mijumaru seemed to be one tough cookie… er, Pokémon.

"Hmm…" was all Arti mumbled as he returned Hoiiga to its Poké Ball. "Well then, my next Pokémon will be Ishizumai!" With that, he sent out his next Pokémon, an orange, hermit-crab-like one with a rock on its back.

"All right, then! Mijumaru, Shell Blade!"

"Ishizumai, use Faint Attack!"

Yet again, Mijumaru was the first to move, taking off its shell and slashing at Ishizumai with it. Ishizumai fell down to the ground, presumably unconscious…

Until it suddenly got back up and struck Mijumaru with its claws, catching the otter Pokémon by surprise.

"Whoa… hey! That's cheating!"

Arti blinked in surprise and looked at Mijumaru. "…Did that Pokémon just…?"

"Yeah, yeah, he did. In fact, all of our Pokémon can talk now, but… let's keep our attention on the battle, 'kay? Mijumaru, Water Pulse!"

"Knock Down!"

Much like the previous time, Mijumaru sent out a ring of water at Ishizumai, knocking the hermit crab Pokémon backwards. It ended up tripping over its own feet, dropping its shell off its back, and landing upside down.

Ishizumai quickly got up to retrieve its rock, put it back on its back, and then fell down to the ground, unconscious.

"Wait a sec…" Touya started and shook his head. "It had enough energy to go get its rock?"

"It's a shell, a shell!" Mijumaru shouted back at him. "Not a rock! A shell!"

"Nooo… It's a rock."

"Can't you freaking see it? It's. A. Shell."

Touya sighed and simply said nothing back to his Mijumaru. Meanwhile, Arti was sending out his next Pokémon…

"Go, Hahakomori!"

"In that case… I'll change my Pokémon! Let's go, Baoppu!"

Whenever did he get a Baoppu…? Maybe, while everyone else was ignoring him?… Well, he sent out the fire monkey Pokémon, its eyes having a lazy look…

"Incinerate!"

"Insect Opposition!"

* * *

"Come onnnn! Can we do it?"

"YES WE CAN!"

Almost as if the wall of honey had heard their shouts of… eagerness, Danny, Fire Pig, Doc, and The Mighty Tiger (who was sitting on Doc's head) pushed their way through the honey, stumbling as they approached a long, flat staircase… No, since it was flat, it was just a long slope, going all the way up to another area…

Danny thought she spotted flames for a moment, but then remembered that the Gym Leader was a bug trainer, not a fire trainer. Were her eyes playing tricks on her…?

"Oh, god, don't tell me that the Gym Leader is a clown himself!" Fire Pig whined, clinging to Danny's leg for his dear pig life. "Ohhhh, man, I hate clowns!"

"He's not a clown," Danny said, beginning to walk up the slope with her Pokémon. "It's that one guy, Arti, I think. Remember him?"

"No."

Danny and her Pokémon finally reached the top of the slope, where there was a battlefield ahead of them. However, Danny suddenly realized what the source of the flames were…

The little fire monkey, Baoppu, clinging to its trainer's leg. Said trainer was receiving a badge from Arti…

"Holy crap, Touya? You were here? And you battled the Gym Leader? And won?"

Down from below in the gym, Touko's voice could be heard shouting… "What? Touya? WHERE IS HE?"

Putting the badge inside of a case, Touya looked up at Danny and nodded. "Yeah, I battled him… What, you jealous? I got here first, too! You know, my 'invisibility' does come in handy sometimes!"

"…I think…"

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Danny grabbed onto Touya's hands, holding onto them tightly. "I think I see you in a new light, Touya! You're awesome!"

"Err, I'm not really… Rather, what's wrong with your Chaoboo? He looks like he's on the verge of fainting…"

"H-h-holy crap, the Gym Leader is almost as bad as the clowns! Ohhhh, god, I hate clowns! Ugh…"

"Oh, Fire Pig fainted."

The Mighty Tiger simply made spit bubbles while sitting on Doc's head, doing nothing. Was there something wrong with that Pokémon…?


	23. Chapter Twenty Two VS Arti II

Chapter Twenty-Two

After Arti had healed his own Pokémon, he got ready to face his second challenger, Danny… who was busy attempting to wake Fire Pig from his clown-induced coma.

"Come on, man! Don't die on me!"

"Ugghh… c-clowns… I hate 'em…"

"The patient has passed on, I'm afraid."

…No, Fire Pig hadn't "passed on," but he quickly sat up as if to prove that he was indeed alive. All traces of being afraid of clowns had disappeared, and now he was jogging in place, ready to battle.

"Let's do this! Come on, let's go!"

"Alright then!" Arti answered with a grin, tossing a Poké Ball in the air. "Hoiiga… I choose you!"

Touya stood nearby, sitting on the ground and watching the battle with his Mijumaru and Baoppu…

"Nitro Charge, Fire Pig!"

"Please use Screech!"

Fire Pig lit himself up in flames, charging forwards at an astounding speed, slamming into Hoiiga as hard as he could. Hoiiga rolled backwards, and then began to screech loudly, much to the dismay of Fire Pig, Danny, Touya, and his Pokémon. On the other hand, Arti didn't seem fazed at all by the screeching, calmly watching the battle.

"O-okay…" Danny began, still covering her ears. "Nitro Charge again!"

Once again, Fire Pig attacked Hoiiga with a flaming tackle, this time managing to knock the Pokémon out. Arti returned Hoiiga with a calm look, sending out his next Pokémon, the hermit crab Ishizumai.

Touya's Mijumaru suddenly jumped up, shouting, "IT'S A SHEL-" but Touya covered Mijumaru's face with his hand, intent on watching the battle.

"Alright… use Ember!"

"Faint Attack, Ishizumai!"

Fire Pig began to snort flames out at Ishizumai; the hermit crab Pokémon suddenly toppled over, apparently unconscious. Naturally, Fire Pig went to go place a foot on his fresh kill, and then Ishizumai suddenly jabbed at him with a claw.

"Hey, hey! That's cheating!"

And again, Mijumaru interrupted the battle, shouting, "EXACTLY MY THOUGHT… S!"

"Nitro Charge!"

"Faint Attack again!"

Fire Pig quickly charged at Ishizumai, covering his body in flames, and slammed into it, knocking it backwards. It fell over again and, as tempted as he was to do it, Fire Pig did not go to stand on Ishizumai in victory.

…But then, Ishizumai didn't get back up, so it really had fainted this time.

"Oh, no, my bug Pokémon! I'm not going to lose, not again, no way!" Arti shouted, returning Ishizumai to its Poké Ball. "Hahakomori, I'm relying on you for this!~"

As Arti sent out the tall, green insect-like Pokémon, Danny suddenly shouted, "Fire Pig, come back, okay? Doc, it's your turn now!"

"Oh, is that so?" Doc asked, clicking her tongue again. As Fire Pig hurried back over to where she was standing behind Danny, Doc removed The Mighty Tiger - who was oh-so-mightily still sitting on her head - and put it on Fire Pig's head.

"Okay… let's go!"

"Hahakomori, use Razor Leaf!"

"Doc, use Attract!"

Hahakomori moved first, swinging its arms and sending out several sharp leaves at Doc. Despite visibly being in pain, Doc managed to wink at Hahakomori and blow a kiss at the insect-like Pokémon…

"_Ha…komo_."

…And then, Hahakomori was looking at Doc in adoration. If one looked closely, they could probably see little hearts in its eyes…

"Alright! Double Slap!"

"Oh, no! Hahakomori, my dear, please try to attack with your Insect Opposition!"

Hahakomori didn't bother to attack at all, watching Doc, still in love, as the Tabunne hurried up to it and began smacking it in the face. Back and forth, back and forth… and yet, Hahakomori was still in love with Doc, even after the face beating.

"Secret Power!"

"Razor Leaf!"

Doc pulled back a fist and punched Hahakomori in the stomach… or what appeared to be its stomach, but that's irrelevant. Hahakomori then attacked Doc, swinging its arms and slashing at the Tabunne with razor sharp leaves… Hence the name.

Tabunne hurried backwards, away from Hahakomori, who was now back to looking at her in adoration.

"Okay… Doc, let's switch you out! Go on, Fire Pig!"

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" Fire Pig squealed gleefully, sounding just like a pig (well, he is a pig after all…) and took The Mighty Tiger off his head. For some reason, the Kurumiru was still blowing spit bubbles…

"Nitro Charge!"

"Razor Leaf!"

Hahakomori once again sent out sharp leaves to fly at Fire Pig, all traces of its love with Doc gone. However, Fire Pig had lit himself on fire again and was charging at Hahakomori, burning the leaves that came in contact with him, slamming into the insect Pokémon as hard as he could…

…Hahakomori toppled to the ground, laying on its side, unconscious. Arti returned it to its Poké Ball, flipping his hair gaily as he dramatically proclaimed, "The battle has ended! Therefore, I, the artist Arti, bestow upon you this… Beetle Badge!"

From out of nowhere, Arti produced a green, heart shaped badge, dramatically handing it to Danny and then falling to the floor, flipping his hair a second time just because he could. "Oh, woe is me…"

"Um… okay. Thanks!"

With that, Danny, Touya, and their Pokémon began making their way out of the gym, leaving a depressed Arti behind. Their Pokémon were talking to one another excitedly, and everyone was in a good mood…

Until, just as they reached the entrance, a clown jumped out of nowhere, shouted, "BOO!" and then Fire Pig fainted on the spot.

* * *

Later on that day, everyone had gathered back in the Pokémon Center to eat lunch…

"I lost my battle!" Belle whined, grabbing onto Danny and crying. "But that's only because Chaoboo's my only Pokémon…"

"Then why don't you go catch some more?"

Belle gasped. "That's a great idea! Cheren, you're so smart!"

"No… that's just common knowledge. Also, don't you have your Munna?"

"Yeah, but… I didn't want her… him… her… it to battle! At least, not today…"

"What, you can't decide on a gender for your own Pokémon?"

Belle completely ignored Cheren's logical question, instead turning to Danny and talking. "Danny, Danny! Will you come with me back to the other routes so I can catch some more Pokémon?"

"Sure, sure! Let's go! Today! Right now!"

"Right now?"

"RIGHT NOW!"

"Y-you mean like, right now right now?"

"YEAH!"

"Okay, you two, calm down," Touko simply said, patting the two of them on their shoulders. "Hmm… let's see… I want to stay in Hiun City for a bit longer… so, how about you two leave and come back in three days?"

"Three days? That's too short!~"

"We'll leave you behind if you don't come back by then!"

"Okay! Three days it is, then! Danny, let's go! Right now!"

Danny and Belle jumped up from their seats, charging off to find the Pokémon Center nurse and get their Pokémon back. Once they did so, they both spun around at the same time, and then slammed into Pearl.

"Huh? What? What is it?"

"Before you two go, I'll give you a Pokémon. If you ever get into trouble, like with those Team Plasma idiots, then I want you to use this Pokémon, okay?"

"Okay!"

Taking the Poké Ball Pearl handed to them, Danny and Belle then rushed out of the Pokémon Center, running off towards the Sky Arrow Bridge…

As Pearl returned back to the dining area of the center and sat back down, Brendan simply stared at the bag that Pearl had her own Poké Balls in.

"What're you looking in there for?"

"Nothing… It's just that…" Brendan began and pointed at the Poké Balls. "You gave them that weird Mamepato."

Pearl quickly looked through the bag in horror, and then realized that she had indeed given the two girls the Mamepato she had caught. The one that rivaled a pebble in reaction time. The one that didn't notice that its friends had flown off without it.

Well, let's hope that they don't run into any trouble at all.


	24. Chapter Twenty Three

Author's Notes: Random chapter is random. :/

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Three

By nightfall, Belle and Danny had reached Shippou City, and decided to spend the night at the Pokémon Center. Once it was morning, the two set out back to Yaguruma Forest to look for Pokémon. Soon enough, Belle decided that this wasn't the place that had the Pokémon she was looking for, and so they went back to Route 3, east of Shippou City.

While Danny entertained a bunch of kindergarteners that were there, Belle looked through the grass for Pokémon.

"Hey, lady! Your forehead's big!"

Danny reached up to touch her forehead in response to one of the kindergartners' comments. "Hmm? Yeah, so what?"

"Oh, man, she had no reaction to the forehead comment! Okay, okay! Um… what's the next one?"

"You look old! How old are you?"

"Fifteen. That's not that old. How old are you… like, five?"

Kindergartner Number 2... Shot down!

"Er… your butt looks big! Hahah! How's that?"

"Honestly, my butt doesn't bother me. And, you know, some people like big butts."

"…"

"Danny, Danny!" Belle shouted that as she ran back towards where Danny was with the kindergartners. She held a Poké Ball high in the air, a grin on her face. "I caught another Pokémon!"

"Ohhh! What is it?"

"A Yorterrie!"

"Ehh? That's all?" one of the kindergartners asked, looking unimpressed.

"I don't see you catching any Pokémon!" Danny simply said, walking over to Belle and starting a different conversation with her. "Are there any other Pokémon you want to get?"

"Yeah, yeah! Touya said that there's a girl at the Dream Site that'll give away a… um… monkey!"

"Alright! Let's go there, then!"

With that, Belle and Danny began walking off down the route, back to Sanyou City. Meanwhile, the kindergartners waved good-bye to them, with some of them shouting, "See you later, forehead girl!"

* * *

"Allllright, I'd like a café latte and a pizza, please."

"…Can you not read or something? There's no pizza item on the menu."

"Oh, really? Okay then… I'd like a foot-long meatball sub."

"…That's also not on the menu."

"I'd like some McNuggets then, please."

"…"

"Okay, okay, I'm kidding. I'll just have the café latte, then."

With a sigh, the red-haired boy standing at the table Danny was at scribbled down to her order, and then turned around and left with another sigh.

Danny was at the Sanyou Gym… which, as usual, was serving as a restaurant. While Belle went off to go find a girl who gave away monkeys, Danny decided to go get something to eat at the restaurant/gym.

"Here's your café latte!"

"Oh, that was fast! Thanks!"

The boy who gave her the drink looked at her for a moment, and Danny realized that it was one of the Gym Leaders… Dent, was that his name?

"Something wrong?" Danny asked, sipping her drink.

"…May I ask a favor of you?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"You see, this morning we had several of our employees call in sick, so I'm afraid we're rather short-handed, with just the three of us. You wouldn't mind helping us out, would you? We'll also pay you for your work.~"

"Sure, sure!" Danny said excitedly, not bothering to give it a second thought. She quickly drank the rest of her drink, despite the fact that it was extremely hot, and jumped up, following Dent into the back area of the restaurant…

* * *

"Hmm… I think Danny said she was at the Sanyou Gym again, didn't she?" Belle mumbled as she walked towards the city. She'd found the girl Touya had mentioned and got a green, monkey Pokémon called Yanappu…

Finding the gym with ease and walking inside, Belle shouted out, "Helloooo? Is Danny here?"

Naturally, everyone in the restaurant turned to look at where Belle stood in the entranceway; Belle didn't seem fazed by the stares, looking around for her friend.

"Hey, Belle! Look, look!"

Belle gasped happily and clasped her hands together. "Danny!… You're in a waitress outfit… but why?"

Spinning around a couple of times to show off the orange dress she now wore, Danny answered, "'Cause I'm working here! Oh, that's right, I've got to show you to a table! Follow me!"

Slightly confused about why Danny was suddenly working as a waitress, Belle followed Danny to a small table, sitting down. "…?"

"I'll take your order now! Or would you like some time to decide?"

"…I'm confused."

"…Is that an item on the menu?" Danny asked, frowning in confusion.

Walking past her, Pod, one of the three brothers, simply asked, "Are you stupid?"

* * *

As the day came to a close, the three brothers plus Danny began to close up the restaurant. For some reason, Belle was still sitting at the table Danny had showed her to…

"I'd like another tea please!"

"…You realize that this is your 16th cup of tea, right?"

"Oh, is it…?"

Pod sighed, walking back in the kitchen area and coming back with another cup full of tea. "We're closing up now, so you have to leave."

"Oh, okay. I was just waiting for Danny," Belle answered, sipping her tea.

In the back areas of the restaurant, Danny had changed out of the waitress outfit and was talking to Dent, who was giving her an envelope of money.

"I have to thank you for your work today! We couldn't have done it without you!"

And nearby, Pod whispered under his breath, "Yes, we could have."

"Well, let's all leave out from the front of the restaurant, okay?"

With that, the four of them walked back out to the dining area, where Belle was still drinking her tea…

…And where some other people were, standing around a table in the center of the room, all the other tables having been moved aside. All the other tables except for the one Belle was at.

And on the table that the people stood around was a cake.

"Oh, this tea is delicious…" Belle mumbled, sniffing her tea happily. And then, "Do I smell cake?"

"Dent, Pod, Corn, happy birthday!" shouted the people at the table, tossing confetti everywhere and clapping happily.

And then, Danny suddenly realized something. "…Today's your guys' birthday…s?"

"Is it? I forgot…" Dent mumbled.

"I didn't, that's for sure!" Pod interrupted. "Besides, who the heck goes to work on their birthday anyways…?"

"Well, since you guys are also here," Dent said, looking at Danny and then at Belle, who was looking around eagerly for the source of the cake smell. "How about you eat the cake with us all?"

Never one to pass up the offer of free cake (or free food, for that matter,) Danny and Belle joined in on the sudden birthday party for Dent, Pod, and Corn…

And they forgot all about the part where they were supposed to be back in Hiun City by tomorrow.


	25. Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Holy crap, I forgot! We're supposed to be back in Hiun City by today!"

"Oh, my god! We have to hurry!… Oh, wait! Didn't Pearl give us that Pokémon in case there was an emergency?"

"Oh, I forgot! Okay, here it is… Pearl's Pokémon, please help us out!"

Tossing the Poké Ball Pearl had given her, Danny felt unusually anxious as said Pokémon came out and flopped to the ground like a heavy rock.

"…Is it dead?"

"No, it's just Ditzy Bird."

Yes, the weird Mamepato was the one given to the two girls. Unfortunately, it was currently laying on the ground, its tongue poking out of its beak. To someone walking by, it would look like it really was dead; but, upon closer inspection, one could see it breathing slightly.

"Can it fly us to Hiun City?"

"I don't think so. Hell, I don't even think it realizes its out of its Poké Ball yet… We're gonna have to run! As fast as we can!"

"Okay! Let's go, go, go!"

Picking up Ditzy Bird and holding it in her arms, Danny and Belle both ran out of the Sanyou City Pokémon Center, rushing out of the city as fast as they could…

* * *

"Jeez! They aren't here yet? I told them… three days!" Touko sighed, shaking her head.

"Maybe they misinterpreted what you said and thought that you meant we were leaving tomorrow," Cheren suggested.

Touko seemed to think about it for a moment. "…I wouldn't put it past them to think of something like that. And so, where's everyone else? We're the only ones here!"

"Let's see… Touya disappeared somewhere-"

"I'm right here."

"I know, I was kidding," Cheren said, and Touya looked at him doubtfully. "Pearl went off somewhere… and Brendan and Iris are beating the shit out of each other."

Sure enough, Brendan and Iris weren't too far from where they were, fighting with one another… though not physically.

"Y-you're a pretty boy! Like those you see in those boy's love comics!"

"Whaaat? You still read comics?" Brendan sighed and shook his head. "You're such a kid."

"I am not! Ugh! Your hair's ugly and white! You totally dyed it to be like that!"

"Sorry, kid, but this is…" Brendan gaily flipped his hair. "_All natural_."

Iris's jaw dropped, and she looked over at Touko, Cheren, and Touya, and then back at Brendan, and then back at them, her mouth still open. She eventually closed it and glared at Brendan.

"You lie!"

"I do not."

"W-well… why isn't your sister's hair white then, huh?"

"Because it just didn't."

"Didn't what?"

"Didn't go through a metamorphosis. Also, fifty Mijumarus says you don't know what metamorphosis is."

Iris didn't answer him, spinning around and walking away from him, giving off the aura of someone in a really bad mood.

* * *

"We're almost there! I can see the end of the bridge!"

"But we just got on it, didn't we?"

"How far have we run?"

"In miles?"

"Yeah!"

"…It's over 9000!"

Sure enough, the end of Sky Arrow Bridge was in view. It got closer, closer, closer…

And, again, it ended abruptly and the two fell down the stairs. Ditzy Bird was still in Danny's arms when they fell, but didn't show any signs of being hurt despite getting crushed by Danny.

"We're here!" Danny stated proudly, jumping up quickly.

"Y-yeah!" Belle added, also getting up and brushing off her clothes. "…Haven't we already fallen off that bridge before?"

"…Oh, yeah, now that you mention it…" Danny mumbled and looked back at the bridge. "…Huh… Oh, wait, we can't stand here like this! We have to find the others! Oh, man, I hope they didn't leave without us…"

The two charged off through the entrance to the city, heading towards the Pokémon Center as fast as they could…

…And as they did so, they spotted Pearl, walking towards the center from the opposite direction.

"Hey, hey! Pearl! Heyyy!"

Pearl looked up in surprise; then, seeing who it was, grinned and waved at the two girls. "Hey, guys! Just in time; we were about to leave without you."

"N-no? Really?"

"Really!… By the way, did you kill my Mamepato?"

Ditzy Bird looked a bit dead, but that was how it always looked; Danny handed the weird bird back to Pearl, saying nothing but having a grin on her face for who-knows-why.

With that, the three of them walked into the Pokémon Center, where their friends awaited them…


	26. Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

"You know what would really suit this atmosphere?"

"…"

"Christmas carols."

"…It's September."

"May I suggest Rudolf the Red-Nosed Stantler?"

"…"

"Oh, fine, I'll start it off for you guys. Ahem… Rudolf the red-nosed Stantler! Had a very shiny nose! Go on, Cheren, it's your turn!"

Cheren didn't respond to Fire Pig's encouragement, which left the pig Pokémon feeling disappointed. But only for about three seconds. "…'Kay then! Belle, your turn!"

"And if you ever saw it… Touko!"

"Hell no."

"…"

Ah, Route 4. It was, quite literally, a dry, sandy desert. Not to mention that there was currently a sandstorm brewing, so the wind was blowing sand into their faces. Naturally, no one wanted to sing Christmas carols at the end of September while walking down a desert path during a sandstorm.

"…You know what would be really funny?"

"What?"

"If, like, we suddenly saw a train traveling around the desert and it was, like, unstoppable?"

"Belle, stop saying stupid things like that."

"It's not stupid!…" Belle mumbled and then went silent, looking down at the endless sandy terrain. "…Probably."

With that, the group walked on in silence for a bit… until something began beeping loudly, making them all jump in surprise.

"Oh, that scared me for a sec…" Touko sighed and looked at the watch on her wrist. "Relax, guys, it's my Live Caster."

"And that is…?"

"Here, everyone gather around! Watch…!" With that, Touko pressed a button on the side of the watch, and the screen lit up to show…

…Professor Araragi?

"Hi! Are you all doing well? Belle, I've heard you got your Munna back. That's great, isn't it?"

Belle nodded happily. "Yeah!"

"Anyways, you guys, I'm waiting for you in Raimon City's gate!"

"Huh? Wait, why-?"

But, alas, the professor hung up before they could ask anymore questions.

"So… I guess that's where we're headed next? Raimon City's gate?"

"Weren't we already going there in the first place?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot." Danny simply shrugged, before pointing ahead of them. "Alright, guys! Let's race! First one to Raimon City's gate, uh… gets one of those yellow box things from Mario! On your marks, get set, go!"

…But Danny, Belle, and, for some reason, Touko were the only ones racing. Everyone else decided to simply take their time.

Because they knew that Danny didn't have "one of those yellow box things from Mario" to give away.

* * *

Within an hour or so, they finally spotted the gate at the end of Route 4. All of them desperate to get out of the sandstorm, they quickened their pace, entering the building and spotting Professor Araragi watching a T.V. there.

"Hi! Everyone!"

"…? Belle, Danny, and Touko aren't here yet?"

Professor Araragi looked confused. "They… weren't with you?"

Almost as if on command, the three girls burst into the gate, sand in their hand, the three of them all breathing heavily and coughing.

Brendan suddenly laughed loudly. "Hah! That's funny! We got here before you… so give me that yellow box thing. Now."

"I… don't have one."

Brendan gasped dramatically and fell to the floor, clutching his chest as if he'd had a heart attack. "…You… don't have one?"

While Brendan muttered odd things under his breath, Professor Araragi began talking to them all.

"Kamitsure here trains electric-type Pokémon! Therefore, you guys battling her would fill up your Pokédex with information about those Pokémon! Of course, it's not the same as catching the Pokémon yourself, but it'll get its information in there nonetheless! But, really, I'd love for you guys to catch lots of different Pokémon and send the information back!"

With that, Araragi looked off at the T.V., which was now displaying the date, the weather, and the time. "…Hmm… It's odd, but your journey looks like a lot of fun…"

"…Please don't tell us that you want to travel with us."

"Huh? Ah, sorry, sorry! I was just mumbling to myself! Anyways, you guys, thanks so much for your work so far! Now, I'm going to head back to Kanoko Town! _Sayonara_!"

With a wave of her hand, Araragi walked past them and out of the gate area, heading out into the sandy desert…

"…How is she walking out there wearing only those clothes?"

"Yeah, I dunno either."

"Anyways, let's go!" Belle interrupted, jumping up into the air happily. "Raimon City, here we come!"

"OH YEAHHHH!"

And, of course, as soon as they exited the gate, they spotted those people in the silly knight uniforms…

…That's right, Team Plasma.

"Come on, old man! Tell us everything you know about the Daycare Center! 'Cause we're Team Plasma, that's why!"

"Yeah! The best way to free Pokémon is to release all of those you have captive at that Daycare Center!"

The old man who they were harassing merely sniffed and looked away from them. "What nonsense!" Suddenly, though, the old man spotted the several children and hurried over to them. "Ohh! Such strong trainers are here! Please, help me!"

The two Team Plasma guys looked at the group doubtfully, and one of them stepped up to them. "What? You guys are gonna interfere, huh?"

"Should I just beat the crap out of this guy and get it over with?" Brendan asked.

"Sure, go ahead," was everyone else's answer.

"Fine! Let's battle, then!" the Plasma guy shouted, tossing a Poké Ball in the air. "Go, Miruhog!"

Brendan sighed, tossing his own Poké Ball in the air… "Go, Swampert."

You defeated Team Plasma Grunt! You've set a new record time! 37 seconds!


	27. Chapter Twenty Six

Author's Notes: I rewrote this chapter because I reread it and it sounded weak. And stupid. Derpity derp derp. Yeaaahh... Actually, a lot of these chapters need serious rewriting. Um... so, yeah.

By the way, Kamitsure's English name is Elesa. So, uh, yeah.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Wow, there's so much to do here in Raimon City! Look, look! There's the Big Stadium, the Little Court, the amusement park, and the Battle Subway! Oh, and the Musical Hall! Danny, Danny, let's go to the Musical Hall!"

"Alright! We're going… to the Musical Hall!"

With that, Danny and Belle bolted out of the Pokémon Center, leaving the others behind; though they didn't really care.

The two of them hurried through the city, walking down the sidewalks and turning around several corners, in search of the Musical Hall. They found the place with ease; it was a big, bright building with the words musical lit up.

"Huh… Do you think this is the Musical Hall?" Belle asked. Though the answer was painfully obvious.

"It might be, but…" Danny mumbled, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm… whatever! Let's go in!"

With that, the two of them walked into the building… to see a place that looked a lot like a theater. There was a red carpet leading from the entrance to a long counter; several women stood behind that counter, smiling robotically. Aside from that, the floor was also covered in pink carpet, and two pillars stood next to the entrance way.

"Isn't it amazing?" Belle said happily, in a daze as she clasped her hands together.

"Oh, my Arceus! It's beautiful!"

The two girls shrieked at the sound - and feeling - of someone standing behind them. They whirled around to see that it was only Brendan… who seemed to be in love with the entire place. Nothing could snap him out of his trance with the place… Because he was in love.

"Hey, you kids! Nice to meet you!" an old-sounding voice said.

"…Huh?" Brendan snapped out of his little trance to stare at an old man walking towards the three. "What do you want? I was busy being in love with the building."

"I'm the Musical Hall's owner! It's nice to meet you!"

"You… you're the owner of this beautiful place?" Brendan squealed like a little girl, changing personalities immediately as he clasped his hands together. "It's so very nice to meet you too!"

"…Hmm!" the old man suddenly said. He looked at the three of them carefully, like the way someone would do if they were choosing which fruit was the best. "Judging by your looks, I'd say you guys are trainers? What would you say to dressing up your Pokémon with some accessories?"

Danny seemed uncertain of what to say, but Brendan and Belle were both nodding eagerly. Brendan looked like he'd scream in excitement at any moment, and Belle just looked excited.

"Hah! That's good!" The old man began to nod. "As a present, I'll give you three a Goods Case!"

"Why is it capitalized?" Danny mumbled. Regardless of that, though, the old man handed them each a small, pink case.

"I look forward to seeing you kids participate in the Pokémon Musicals! Well, then, I'll be off!" The man proceeded to walk away, leaving an unsure Danny and an overly ecstatic Brendan and Belle.

"Hmm? What should we do first…?" Belle asked and looked over at Danny. "What do you think?"

Danny shrugged. "I don't know… Maybe we should go back to the Pokémon Center for now?"

"I'm going to participate in a Pokémon Musical!" Brendan suddenly declared.

"Right now?"

"Right now!" Brendan confirmed that with a gay spin, and then he charged off to talk to one of the women behind the counter. Belle and Danny looked at each other, shrugged, and left the building, leaving Brendan behind.

…However, once they left, they spotted a man standing there outside, apparently waiting for them, and Belle suddenly froze in place. Danny looked back at her in confusion. "Belle? What's wrong?"

"P… Papa?" Belle hesitantly asked, her voice unusually quiet as she looked at the man standing there. She took a step back, shaking her head. "W-what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take you back home, Belle," the man answered. Apparently, he must've been Belle's father… because Belle had called him "Papa." Danny was still confused, though. _This_ guy was Belle's father? How did that happen…? "I've heard from your mother about how far you've journeyed. Isn't it enough already?"

Belle shook her head harder, backing away even more. "NO!" she shouted. Her voice started to crack, and she looked like she was about to start crying. "I've been traveling with my friends and my Pokémon all this time, and I've been having a lot of fun! I… I don't want to go back home! I want to travel more!"

Belle's father shook his head as well. He took a step forwards, and Belle froze in place again. "No!" he bellowed. "Another place is another place, and a house is a house!"

"That's why…" Belle paused, taking a breath as tears started to trail down her face. "I'm myself, and Papa is Papa!" she screamed. By now, Danny had hurried over to stand next to Belle defensively, and was almost glaring at her father.

"Miss, please continue your journey."

"…?"

Belle, her father, and Danny all looked around in confusion for the sound of someone else's voice. However, they all quickly spotted a woman… no, a girl just a bit older than Belle and Danny walking towards them.

Her short, blonde hair swayed slightly as she walked, and she was wearing a pair of headphones, the cords trailing behind her. Wearing a yellow jacket over black pants and some kind of black shirt that showed multiple parts of her skin, she certainly stood out from the norm.

"Wait a second!" Belle's father snapped. "Who are you? This is a child-parent conversation!"

"I'm Kamitsure," the girl simply answered. She pushed back one of the headphone cords and continued talking. "I'm Raimon City's Gym Leader, as well as a model."

The girl, whose name was apparently Kamitsure, walked over to Belle, looking down at her while she talked. "Needless to say, there are plenty of people here in the world, but everyone does what they want differently. And sometimes, people get hurt because of what they do."

"That's right! That's exactly right!" Belle's father said. He nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm simply worried about my daughter!"

"I'll repeat what I just said: there are plenty of people here, but everyone does things differently. It's important to remember that. But, trainers don't have to worry, though, because they'll always have their trusted Pokémon… their partners there to protect them."

Belle nodded eagerly, stepping over to her father. "Yeah! Please! Papa, you don't have to worry! I'll become a really strong person, little by little, by being with my Pokémon on this journey! So… please!"

Belle's father looked away, mumbling to himself. "Hmm… It's Belle's selfishness that makes her want to continue this journey… But it's my own selfishness to want to make her stop… But no matter how you think about it, I'm the one being more selfish…"

He finally stopped mumbling and looked back at where Kamitsure, Belle, and Danny were. "…Miss Gym Leader, I've realized this because of you… So thank you. Belle… I hope you'll have a fun journey."

Belle squealed happily, jumping over to Danny and hugging her tightly; naturally, Danny did the same, and the two were both jumping up and down and hugging each other excitedly. Soon enough, Belle jumped over to hug Kamitsure, who… didn't seem to want to jump around, but patted her head nonetheless.

"You…" Belle's father began and looked at Danny. "What's your name?"

"Me? I'm Danny."

"…Danny. Please take care of my Belle. Make sure she doesn't get hurt, okay?"

Danny looked a bit shocked at first, but then nodded eagerly. "I will! I promise!"

Belle's father nodded, a small grin crossing his face, and then began to walk away, leaving Belle behind. Said girl was now hugging both Kamitsure and Danny, at the same time, jumping around happily.

And from inside the Musical Hall, Brendan watched with a grin. "Good for you, Belle," he quietly said. Then he turned around and headed back to actually enter in one of the musicals.


	28. Chapter Twenty Seven

Author's Notes: Touya takes the spotlight again! And... N is...

Anyways, I have to mention something super important! My internet's getting turned off, so I won't be able to update this for a while. So... happy early holidays!

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"It's getting dark outside… and is Brendan _still_ at those Pokémon Musicals?"

"Er, yeah, he is. I think he's, like, addicted to them. We'll have to do an intervention."

"Okay. Touko and I'll go do an intervention. You guys… how about you guys wait for us at the amusement park? We can all go there together!"

"Okay, sure!"

And with that, all of them left the Pokémon Center, with Touko and Pearl going to find Brendan and do an intervention while the others waited for them at the amusement park.

"Jeez, they must be having one hell of an intervention," Cheren said, looking at his watch; they'd been gone for 15 minutes, which seemed like an awfully long time to be trying to get a boy to return from the Pokémon Musicals.

"We're gonna have to send him to rehab, won't we?" Danny suggested.

Cheren snorted, trying to hide his sudden laughter.

Belle, however, seemed to be focusing her attention on a random spot nearby… No, not a random spot. It was just where Touya was standing. "Touya, what's wrong?"

"…It's him," Touya simply said, staring somewhere within the amusement park.

All of them turned around to see who he was talking about.

…Green hair, a baseball cap. It was that mysterious boy, N. N was also staring back at them, his cap hiding most of his face.

"…"

"Let's just ignore him."

"Well, he already saw us staring at him, not it's not like he doesn't know that we didn't see him."

"Just turn around and looked for Touko, Pearl, and the musical-aholic."

With that, they all turned back around, keeping an eye out for the three other kids. However…

"Oh, hello! If it isn't Touya and his friends!"

N had walked up to them and began talking as if he knew all of them. He was laughing too, for some reason.

"Are you guys here to play at the amusement park?"

"Yeah…"

"You know, I've heard that there have been some sightings of Team Plasma around here. You guys should be careful."

"No worries, Brendan already kicked two Team Plasma guys' asses earlier."

"Touya, would you like to go on the Ferris wheel with me?"

Iris and Cheren choked on the air, and Belle and Danny didn't understand what was wrong with them, and so the two both tried to help their choking friends. Touya, on the other hand, merely fixed his cap a bit and looked up at N.

"Sure."

Iris and Cheren would die if they kept on choking like this.

* * *

"Quite a lovely view, isn't it?"

"…Yeah."

"Now, now, Touya. You're being so distant; why is that so?"

"…Why do you need to know anything about me?"

"Because no one else seems to notice you."

Touya suddenly looked directly at N, an angry look across his face. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Go on, tell me. Why exactly are you never noticed? Even the narrator barely acknowledges your existence."

"…Narrator?"

"Nothing, pretend I didn't say that. Anyways, tell me."

Touya sighed, looking back out the window. "…Fine then. It started when I was about 7 years old.

"One day, I came back home with Belle, Cheren, and Touko, because I invited them over for dinner. My mother knew about this in the morning, and when we came back from school, she didn't remember.

"She had looked at Belle, Cheren, and Touko… and asked them if they were lost and needed help finding their parents. Cheren asked her if she was okay, and explained to her that they were my friends. But then… she asked…

"'Who is this Touya?'

"Well, after that, I stayed at Cheren's house for a while, and Belle, Cheren, and Touko's parents tried to help my mom out. I guess Touko thought the whole, 'Touya is invisible' thing was funny, and she pretended not to notice me.

"And now, for some reason, some people just can't see me. I don't even understand why other people do it, though."

N listened to everything Touya told him, nodding his head the entire time. After Touya finished, he asked, "…Does your mother notice you now, though?"

"Sometimes she does, and sometimes she doesn't. It happens randomly."

N nodded yet again, and then looked at Touya, not blinking once as he said…

"Well, Touya, I can see you perfectly fine!"

Touya's attention came back towards N, though he wasn't angry this time… He looked surprised, almost sad…

"Some people might not be able to see you, but I've seen you perfectly fine each and every time I've encountered you and your friends."

"Oh… really? Um… thanks…" Touya looked down at the ground now, his voice wavering slightly. N reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, patting it.

"By the way…" N said as the Ferris wheel came to a stop at the bottom. "I should have mentioned this from the start, but I'm Team Plasma's king."

Touya's head snapped up, looking at him in surprise. The door to the gondola they were in opened up, and Touya was the first out. N followed him casually, as if he hadn't said a single thing.

"Lord N!"

Touya suddenly noticed that a crowd had gathered… along with some Team Plasma grunts, who'd addressed N as such.

The Plasma grunts all reached down to hold out their Poké Balls, ready to send out their Pokémon if they were ordered to.

Touya quickly moved to stand in front of the crowd, his arms outstretched, apparently trying to protect them all.

"Shall we attack?" one of the Team Plasma grunts asked.

N held out a hand to the grunts, and stepped towards Touya. "…Touya. What's the matter? Why so hostile?"

"You lied."

"I didn't lie. You just never asked."

Touya didn't say anything, but merely reached down to his belt and unhooked one of the two Poké Balls on there; it was Mijumaru's, N noticed.

"…Are you intending to protect this entire crowd with just your Mijumaru?" N asked.

Touya sighed. "…N. Now that I know you're apart of Team Plasma… I have to say this. I don't necessarily disagree with your ideas of releasing Pokémon from people who don't deserve them. But… I've seen firsthand what you guys do. I saw some of these Team Plasma guys harassing a Munna, kidnapping a girl's Pokémon - and stealing Belle's Munna too -, and just earlier, some of them were harassing an old man. I can't understand what you guys are doing. But… I'll stop you."

N simply stared at Touya for a bit, and then looked back at the Team Plasma guys behind him. "…Let us leave, now."

"What? Our lord… are you sure about that?"

"Yes."

Giving each other hesitant looks, the grunts all saluted, shouting, "Yes, our lord!"

With that, N walked around the crowd, the grunts following him loyally, and out of the amusement park. Once they were gone, the crowd finally broke apart, going back to doing whatever they'd been doing…

"T-T-Touyaaaa! That was sooo cooolllll!" Belle shouted, hugging Touya tightly. "You totally protected everyone! You're so cool!"

"Eh? No, I wasn't… I just didn't want anyone to get hurt…"

Cheren fixed his glasses for no apparent reason, the lights from the amusement park reflecting in the lens. "That was very brave of you, Touya. I'm impressed."

"Yeah!" Danny chimed in, also hugging Touya and making a Touya sandwich. "That was awesome Touya! Pearl, Brendan, and Touko are here now, too, you know!"

"…Oh." Touya looked over at the other three plus Iris standing nearby. "…"

Touko was looking away from him, apparently trying to avoid his gaze, but then she finally looked up at him, an almost shy expression on her face.

"…You were pretty cool there, Touya. Actually, you were really cool."

Touya sheepishly grinned. "…Thanks!"

* * *

What is shit is this? Touya/Touko or Touya/N?

...I prefer Touya/N, but that's just me.

Next chapter... Belle and Danny head to the Raimon City Gym!


	29. Chapter Twenty Eight VS Kamitsure

Author's Notes: I just got the internet back on today!~ And... I have so many things to rant about... One: Imagine my surprise when I found out that the English Black and White was coming out so soon! Two: The names and everything suck. Hilda. HILDA? I was hoping they'd keep dear Belle's name but... why? Was there something wrong with it?

Also, at the time of posting this, I've already finished this story. And, let me tell you, there's no way in _hell_ that I'm going to go through it and change all the names to the English equivalents. Not just because I don't like them... Do you know how long it would take to do that? I'm too lazy.

Also, I think Yoko Hikasa should voice Kamitsure in the anime. Of course, out of all my voice actor guesses, I've only gotten one right: Aloe's voice actor, Atsuko Tanaka.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Eight

October - Summer

"H… holy shit, did I miss something? Why the hell is it so freaking hot out?"

"That's 'cause it's summer."

"It's October!"

"Noooo… It's summer."

Brendan was currently having a heat stroke from the sudden increase in temperature. Suddenly, it had become summer. And Belle wasn't helping very much.

"Damn it… Just when I thought that Hoenn and Sinnoh's summers were bad… What time is it?"

"9:00."

"Get out of here."

Belle complied with the order, turning around and walking away, leaving Brendan to have a seizure on the floor.

* * *

While everyone else tried to help Brendan recover from the summer shock, Danny and Belle left to go find the Pokémon gym. Albeit, it took them awhile to find it, but the last place they thought it'd be was…

…at the amusement park.

"This is the gym?" Danny asked as they stood in front of a blue building, lights flashing on and off, flashing in a row, flashing horizontally… "…You sure?"

"Well, the sign here says so," Belle answered, pointing to a sign next to the building, which read, "Raimon City Pokémon Gym! Leader: Kamitsure! The Shining Beauty!"

"…Huh, I guess so. Let's go inside, then!"

With that, the two girls walked through the entrance…

…But compared to outside, the gym was completely dark.

"OhmigodI'vegoneblind!"

"Who turned off the lights? I can't seeeee!"

After a bit of screaming like they were dying, their eyes finally got adjusted to the darkness… And that it wasn't completely dark, no. The floors were light up with neon lights and there were roller coaster carts going around on tracks, which were also lit up. Basically, the gym looked a lot like an amusement park ride itself.

The two girls hurried up to a spot where one of the roller coaster carts came to a stop at. It opened up, but to their surprise, there was only enough room for one of them.

"…You wanna go first?" Danny asked, looking over at Belle.

Belle looked at it, and then back at Danny. "…Yes! I will go on first! If I don't return… tell my parents that I love them."

Danny nodded solemnly, wiping away imaginary tears. "…I will. Now… go get them! Good luck!"

Belle got into the cart, and it closed up, speeding down the tracks and around the room. It came to a stop nearby, and Belle got out. She spotted Danny nearby and waved.

"I haven't died yettttt!"

"I knew it! I believe in youuuuuuuuu!"

And Belle rushed forwards, having a girl there challenge her to a battle.

…And then she lost.

* * *

A couple of dizzy coaster rides later, Danny, after mourning the loss of her friend, arrived at the place where the Gym Leader waited. Stumbling over to the girl, she quickly realized that the Gym Leader was the same girl who'd helped out Belle the day before.

…Though she had stated that she was the Gym Leader back then, but Danny had already forgotten that.

"You're not dizzy now that you're at a lower speed?" Kamitsure, the Gym Leader, asked. With a flip of her hair, she said, "Next, my beloved Pokémon will be the ones making you dizzy. Go, Emonga!"

"Oh… wait, wait a sec! Can I say something first?"

Kamitsure narrowed her eyes at Danny, having already sent out her Emonga; the flying-squirrel Pokémon flew over to sit on its trainer's head. "…Fine. What is it?"

"Thanks for helping Belle out the other day! I don't know what I would've done if she had to leave… So, thanks!"

"…Is that all? What I mean is… it's not a problem, but, let's just get on with our battle, okay?"

"Okay, okay!… Go, Fire Pig!"

"Emonga, Aerial Ace!"

"Nitro Charge!"

Emonga was the first to move, jumping off its trainer's head and flying towards Fire Pig at an astounding speed; it quickly slashed at Fire Pig, down once and then upwards. As it flew away from Fire Pig, the Chaoboo charged towards it, surrounding itself in flames as it tackled the squirrel Pokémon.

Unfortunately for Kamitsure, Emonga had fainted from the single blow, falling to the ground like a dead fly. As Kamitsure returned her Emonga to its Poké Ball, Danny couldn't help but notice that something seemed odd about Fire Pig… but she merely dismissed it as nothing.

"Emonga, I choose you!"

"Another one of those things…? What I mean is… Nitro Charge!"

"Aerial Ace!"

Kamitsure's Emonga fly towards Fire Pig, slashing at him with its claws. Fire Pig fell backwards, but he was unable to push himself back up; he hadn't fainted yet, though, so what was the problem…?

"Nitro Charge! Come on, Fire Pig! I know you can do itttt!"

Kamitsure sighed, and shrugged. "Emonga, Aerial Ace."

Once again, Emonga moved first, soaring down at Fire Pig and slashing at him. This time, the attack managed to knock him out, and the pig Pokémon stopped struggling to get up and lay there, unconscious.

Danny quickly returned Fire Pig to its Poké Ball and sent out Doc next. "Double Slap!"

"Volt Change."

Emonga let out a bolt of electricity at Doc, electrocuting the pink Pokémon, and quickly returned back to its Poké Ball; Kamitsure proceeded to send out a zebra-like Pokémon…

"Spark."

"Let's try Attract!"

The zebra Pokémon began to charge up electricity; it then dashed at Doc, slamming into her. Doc tumbled backwards, falling unconscious.

"Ehhh? Doc!… All right, then…" Quickly recovering from the fainting of one of her Pokémon, Danny sent out her last Pokémon; the spitting Kurumiru. "Go, The Mighty Tiger!"

Kamitsure raised an eyebrow at this, presumably at the nickname, and returned the zebra Pokémon to its Poké Ball. "Emonga, let's go! Use Aerial Ace!"

"Come on, Tiger! Uh… what're your moves anyways…?"

However, Emonga had already flown down to attack The Mighty Tiger, slashing at the caterpillar Pokémon, who'd been busy blowing spit bubbles. It simply fell over on its side, spit covering the floor.

"Oh… it fainted! Noooo, Tiger, don't do this to me!"

"…Do you have anymore Pokémon or is that it?" Kamitsure simply asked.

"…I don't have anymore Pokémon. Oh, wait! That means I lost…! Damn it!"


	30. Chapter Twenty Nine

Author's Notes: I wonder what I was on when I wrote this chapter. I like it, though. XD

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"I wonder how Belle and Danny's gym challenge is going…?" Pearl mumbled.

"Beats me," Cheren responded. And then he said, "…Aside from the weird Mamepato, have you caught any other Pokémon here?"

"Eh? Ah… No, I haven't."

"Maybe you should go and catch some Pokémon, for your dad's research?"

Pearl seemed to think about this for a moment, and then cheerfully said, "Okay! I'll go catch some Pokémon! Cheren, you come along too!"

"What? Why? I don't want to!"

"Haha, too bad for you! Let's see, where should we start at first…? Route 4, here we come!"

Grabbing Cheren's arm, Pearl hurried out of the Pokémon Center to go catch some Pokémanz… Pokémon.

* * *

"Uuuu… I can't believe I lost so early on!" Belle whined to no one in particular. Sitting on a bench and hugging her knees, she continued mumbling to herself…

…Until she finally noticed that Danny was giving her Pokémon to the nurse, and then she hopped up and ran over to Danny.

"Danny, Danny! How'd your gym challenge go? I bet you won, right?"

"…Actually, I lost."

Belle fell to the ground, suffering a major heart attack from this news. She quickly recovered, though. "In that case, we should both go and train!"

"Yeah!… Where should we go, though?"

"Route 5, I say! I don't like Route 4, though, it's way too sandy there! I think I got sand in my panties!"

Danny looked away and laughed quietly into her hands, leading Belle to question her. "What's so funny, Danny?"

"You said panties… heheh."

"Now that I think about it, panties _is_ a funny word, isn't it?… Panties!"

"Panties!"

"PANTIES!"

"Wait, why is a pair of panties a pair when it's only one? And if it's only one, then it should be panty, right?"

* * *

"And… there! Caught Meguroco!"

Picking up the Poké Ball, Pearl turned back towards where Cheren was waiting, looking a bit shocked. "Cheren! Do you know if there're anymore Pokémon that I haven't caught here?"

"Uh… I'm not quite sure…"

"Might as well as go exploring then! Come on, glasses boy, follow me!"

Fixing his glasses a bit, Cheren followed after Pearl, thinking about how crazy this woman was. They'd only been out here for about a half hour, and Pearl had already caught more Pokémon than Cheren had combined. In fact, she really had caught every Pokémon species on Route 4...

As the two of them passed through another gate area, Cheren abruptly stopped once they exited the gate… and entered another desert. Last time Cheren had checked, that gate should've led back to Raimon City…

Pearl didn't notice a thing, chasing after another Pokémon that she hadn't caught. "Holy crap, what Pokémon is _that_?"

Cheren merely watched as the Pokémon Pearl was chasing hurried away from her, squawking and making noises.

"Come back here! You weird, bird, flying-thing!" Pearl quickly tossed a Poké Ball in the air, letting out a black Pokémon with yellow rings on its body. "Umbreon! Use Mean Look!"

The Pokémon, Umbreon, dashed forwards, its eyes shooting out a red light that shone on the flying Pokémon Pearl wanted to catch. The Pokémon stopped trying to run away, and turned around to face Pearl and Umbreon.

"Faint Attack!"

The flying Pokémon slashed at Umbreon, and Umbreon fell down to its side, apparently unconscious. Just as the Pokémon assumed that this would be the perfect chance to escape, it realized that it couldn't move out of the area…

Umbreon had gotten up and attacked the flying Pokémon, knocking it down to the ground. Pearl quickly took out a Poké Ball and threw it at the Pokémon; after it got sucked inside, it shook around a couple of times until it came to a stop.

"Let's see, this one's called Shinbora? That's its name, then!… Cheren, why are you just standing there? Come on, let's go!"

Cheren reluctantly followed her, and the two continued on through the desert. All the sand and sand dunes seemed to stretch on endlessly, and for a second, Cheren was afraid that they were lost and he'd have to be stuck with Pearl in the desert.

However, they suddenly spotted something in the distance…

Five blue… things sitting in the sand.

"What the hell is that?" Pearl asked, and Cheren was starting to get scared because he heard the sound of curiosity and excitement in her voice.

"I… don't know."

He immediately regretted saying that, because Pearl grabbed onto his hand and began dragging him off towards the things.

Once they got closer, they saw that the blue things had faces, and hands and legs. However, they weren't moving, and they looked a lot like statues…

Not too far behind these things was a flight of stairs, going down underneath the desert. The opening to the stairway was lined in stone, and Cheren began to wonder how the heck something like a staircase going under the desert was possible…

"You know, maybe we should go back to Raimon City…"

"What? No way, we're explorers! Let's go down those stairs!"

Still dragging Cheren, Pearl started walking down the stairs with him in tow. Luckily, the sandstorm outside didn't seem to be affecting the lower area, so Cheren was somewhat thankful for that.

However, once they went down there, they were greeted with the sight of a Pokémon Pearl had yet to catch. It looked like a black thing with hands, red eyes, and it was holding a small golden mask.

"I haven't caught that one yet!

The Pokémon immediately saw her as a threat and promptly began hurrying away and squealing. Naturally, Pearl chased after the Pokémon like how a Meowth goes after shiny things.

"W-wait a second! Pearl! Stop!"

Cheren hurried after Pearl as fast as he could, watching the girl chase after the Pokémon. The Pokémon hurried down into the sand, and so did Pearl.

…Wait, what?

"W-whoa! Cheren, help me!"

Cheren finally caught up to Pearl and saw… that she fallen into a pit of sand, and was stuck. However, upon closer inspection, he saw that she was get sucked deeper and deeper into the sand…

"Quick sand! Damn it!"

Reaching out to Pearl, Cheren tried not to fall into the quick sand as well. Pearl grabbed a hold of his hand, but… Cheren didn't seem to be strong enough to pull her up, probably because she was stuck in the sand.

"Hold on, okay? Janovy, help me out!" With his free hand, Cheren sent out a Pokémon, a green, lizard-like Pokémon which was probably the evolved form of his Tsutarja. "Use Vine Whip to keep me still!"

Nodding, Janovy sent out a vine from one of the leaves on its body, wrapping it around Cheren's waist. Using his free hand, he grabbed onto Pearl, struggling to pull her up. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to make much of a difference.

"Cheren… I-if I die, I want you to know…"

"I'm not gonna let you die!"

"I ate a grass-type Pokémon before!"

Janovy gasped and accidentally loosened its grip on Cheren. Cheren fell down into the sand, which quickly pulled him and Pearl under…

* * *

"I wonder where Pearl and Cheren went?" Belle randomly asked.

"Good point… It's already 5 and they haven't come back yet."

"Danny!"

"Belle!"

"Danny!"

"Belle!"

"DANNY!"

"BEL-"

"Will you two quit it?" Brendan snapped, and the two of them went silent.

"But…" Danny started talking. "We were just wondering where Pearl and Cheren went…"

Brendan sighed. "You really want to know?"

The two nodded. "YEAH!"

"You sure?"

"YEAH!"

"Alright, gather round, I'll tell you!"

The two of them hurried over to Brendan, who began to whisper something to them. "…And that's what they're doing."

"Oh… oh my god!" Belle stammered, her face completely red. "I had no idea Cheren and Pearl were already at that stage!"

"Woohoo, Cheren is the man! I knew it, he's a pimp, he can get any girl he wants!"

Meanwhile, all of the Pokémon watched them from afar, wondering what in the world they were getting so excited about.

"What's a… pimp?"

"Beats me."

"Am I a pimp?"

"No, Swampert, you're not."

Suddenly, the group of Pokémon noticed Cheren's Janovy hurrying over to them. "Oh, hi, what's-your-name."

"I…" Janovy huffed and paused to catch his breath. He then continued… "I killed Cheren and Pearl."

Swampert laughed. "Haha, that's funny."

After an awkward silence, Swampert proceeded to say, "Oh, my god, are you serious?"


	31. Chapter Thirty

Author's Notes: Um... yeah. I've got nothing to say... derp.

* * *

Chapter Thirty

Cheren awoke to find himself covered in sand. Jolting upright, he quickly looked around… he saw Pearl laying next to him, unconscious, and she was also covered in sand. Looking up, he saw… that sand was dropping from the ceiling.

…Apparently, the quick sand actually dropped them below.

"Pearl! Wake up, will you?"

Shaking her until she woke up, Pearl's first question was, "Where am I…?" and then "Why am I covered in sand?"

"The quick sand dropped us down here," Cheren said, pointing up at the ceiling.

"Oh… oh! So we didn't die! Thank goodness!"

"Yeah, but…" Cheren turned to glare at her. "What was it with that comment before, huh? You made Janovy let go of us!"

"…What'd I say anyways?"

"That you ate a grass Pokémon."

"Oh, I just said that so he'd let go of us. I mean, it's better for us to die and not bring poor Janovy with us, right?"

"Wouldn't it be better to die trying than to never try at all?"

"Whatever! Let's continuing exploring!"

Cheren nearly choked on sand at this. After all that, she _still_ wanted to explore some more? What kind of crazy woman was she?

"Look! Stairs over there! Let's-a-go!"

Sometimes Cheren had to wonder why he let himself be dragged along. Or why he bothered to travel in a group.

* * *

"Um… was it around here somewhere? I don't remember… all this sand looks the same!"

After Janovy had promptly made the announcement that he killed Cheren and Pearl, everyone else had to go see if this was actually true. Unfortunately, Janovy couldn't seem to remember where the place he ran from was.

"So…" Swampert began slowly and looked over at everyone. "…Who wants to play I-Spy?"

"NO."

Swampert began pouting at this, though no one bothered to comfort him.

After some more time of walking in the desert, the group spotted something up ahead. Five blue things and… a familiar looking outfit.

"Oh, my god! Cheren was still alive when I left him!" Janovy cried and dramatically fell to his knees. "Now he really is dead!"

As Fire Pig proceeded to pat his back, everyone else hurried ahead to where Cheren lay. Yes, it really was Cheren, but he really _did_ look dead.

"Cheren! Don't die on me, man!"

"Wa… ter…"

"What?"

"Wat… er…"

"Water! We need water!" Danny looked around in a hurry and spotted Swampert, pointing a finger at him. "I see a water source!"

"…Huh?"

"Swampert, you can _make_ water! Go on, make a glass of water for Cheren!"

Swampert dramatically gasped. "But I don't have a cup to pour it in!"

"Cheren doesn't need a cup!"

"I forgot, 'cause he's a pimp!"

With that, Swampert took in a deep breath and blasted a jet of water right on top of Cheren, thoroughly soaking him head to toe.

"How was that, Cheren?"

Cheren was finally moving, coughing and taking off his glasses. "What the hell was that for?"

"Well, I didn't have a cup to pour it in, so…"

Brendan rudely interrupted Swampert, "Where's my sister?"

"She… said she was exploring."

Ignoring Swampert's dramatic crying, Brendan hurried down the stairs into the lower place… and found his sister quite easily. She was talking to a guy making a couple of Poké Balls float in the air.

"Pearl!"

Pearl gasped and looked at Brendan. "Hi! Brendan!"

"What've you been doing? Cheren was almost dead out there! And Janovy thought he killed you two! You've been gone for hours!"

"An explorer is always dedicated to her… uh, exploring."

Brendan sighed. "Whatever. I was just worried. What were doing out here anyways?"

"…Oh!" Almost like she just remembered, Pearl held out a bunch of Poké Balls to Brendan. "Look! I caught a lot of Pokémon! A Darumakka, Meguroco, Shinbora, Desumasu…"

"…You've been catching Pokémon this whole time?"

"Yep! Cheren suggested it, so I did it! Now, I'm going to head out to Route 5 next and catch all the Pokémon there…!"

And far away, all the way over in Route 5, all the Pokémon got a sudden chill, feeling that something crazy would be chasing after them soon…

* * *

Early the next morning, Pearl woke up, getting ready to catch all the Pokémon on Route 5. However, during her getting ready, she woke everyone else up, and then Belle and Danny decided to tag along with her.

"Ohoho, there's lots of different Pokémon here!" Pearl exclaimed, slurping for no apparent reason and rubbing at her mouth.

"…Why did she just slurp?"

"I don't know."

"Come on, girlies, help me look for some Pokémon! 'Cause I'm reallyyyy hungry right now!"

Several Pokémon overheard her and ran for their lives.

With that, the three of them began looking through the grass for some Pokémon. Belle spotted a Chillarmy, and was trying to catch it. Meanwhile, Danny had found some weird, green Pokémon. It was circular shaped, and a smaller, light colored green was inside it. It had two small eyes, and a diamond-shaped mouth.

"…"

"…"

"I'm going to catch you, little Pokémon!"

"…!"

The Pokémon's reactions were apparently only limited to "…" and "…!"

"Doc, let's go!" Danny shouted, tossing the Tabunne's Poké Ball in the air and letting it out. "Use Double Slap!"

Doc ran up to the Pokémon, smacking it back and forth a few times. "…!" was the Pokémon's reaction.

"Let's try Attract!"

This time, Doc winked and blew a kiss at the Pokémon… whose eyes literally got hearts in them as it stared at Doc in fascination.

"Pound!"

After Doc smacked the green Pokémon, Danny finally decided to throw a Poké Ball at it. The ball hit the Pokémon and sucked it inside; the ball rocked back and forth a couple of times before coming to a stop.

"…Is that it?" Danny asked, walking over to the Poké Ball and picking it up. "That was pretty easy!"

Pearl, on the other hand, couldn't find any Pokémon whatsoever, probably because they were all smart and were hiding from her.

"By the way," Danny said, walking over to Pearl with her new Pokémon on her head. "Pearl, I heard that you and Cheren were an item. I had no idea!"


	32. Chapter Thirty One VS Kamitsure II

Author's Notes: By the way, Yuniran's English name is Solosis.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-One

"It's time to go challenge the gym again! Come on, guys, do your warm up exercises! And one, and two, and one, and two!"

As Danny stood outside of the Raimon City Pokémon Center, Touya could only point at them and ask, "What're they doing? And when did Danny get a Yuniran?"

"Come on, guys! Do your squats! Bend down, get up!"

As all of her Pokémon did what she was doing, Touya couldn't help but start laughing. It was an interesting sight, and considering that Danny's Yuniran couldn't do squats very well and that The Mighty Tiger was spitting everywhere, it was pretty funny.

"Oh, that's right! I just thought of a nickname for Yuniran!" Danny suddenly shouted mid-squat. She spotted Touya and pointed at him. "'Kay guys! Let's do squats… while going over to Touya!"

"YEAH!"

With that, Danny and her Pokémon began doing squats while going over to Touya. Naturally, Touya began cracking up, and once Danny was over by him, she stopped.

"Touya! Wanna hear my nickname for Yuniran?"

"What is it? Little Green Guy?"

"No… but that's a great idea! No, no, I'm gonna name him Ed! It'll be short… for Edward Elric!"

"…You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope! He'll be… the Fullmetal Alchemist! Hoho, how's that sound? Ed, how's that name?"

Yuniran, now known as Ed, hopped around excitedly. "_Yu! Yu!_"

"Though we need to teach you how to speak… Should I leave you with Brendan's Swampert so he can teach you?"

Ed began bouncing around off the sidewalk, off the wall, off Doc's ear, back to the sidewalk…

"…Okay! Is that a yes or a no?"

Ed passed out from excitement, melting down into a pile of green goop.

"I think you killed him."

"He lived his life to the fullest, that Ed. Let's pray for him, shall we?"

As all of Danny's Pokémon began praying to the dead Ed, Ed bounced back to his regular, round form and looked at all the praying Pokémon curiously.

Fire Pig was the first to notice his sudden revival and gasped dramatically. "Our praying has brought him back to life! I knew we could do it! Group hug, come on!"

As Doc and Fire Pig gathered around Ed and hugged him tightly, The Mighty Tiger remained where it always was - on Doc's head - and spit bubbles.

And back in the Pokémon Center, Cheren and Pearl were busy beating the crap out of Brendan for what he told everyone they'd been doing the day before.

* * *

A couple of hours later, and a few roller coaster rides later as well, Danny and Belle both reached Kamitsure, the two of them walking over to the tall, blonde girl.

"You've come back to challenge me again, huh?" Kamitsure asked with a flip of her hair. "Which one of you will challenge me first?"

Danny glanced at Belle and answered, "…I think Belle should go first."

"Huh?" Belle quickly shook her head. "No, no, I think you should go first!"

"No, you should go first!"

"I think you should-"

"Will you two hurry it up and choose already?"

"Belle goes first!"

"Fine! I'll go first!"

Kamitsure sighed, tossing a Poké Ball in the air and letting out the electric flying squirrel Pokémon, Emonga. "I'll start with Emonga first, then."

"Okay… then, go, Chaoboo!"

"Emonga, Volt Change!"

"Chaoboo, Nitro Charge!"

Emonga quickly charged up electricity, proceeding to toss the ball of electricity at Chaoboo before returning back to its Poké Ball; in turn, Kamitsure sent out yet another Emonga, who took Chaoboo's flaming tackle and fell to the ground like a rock. However, it managed to hop back up, flying around in front of its trainer yet again.

"Chaoboo, use Nitro Charge again!"

"Emonga, Aerial Ace!"

Kamitsure's Emonga soared down towards Chaoboo, slashing down at it and then upwards, knocking the fire pig backwards. Chaoboo quickly hopped up though, and began stomping on the ground, surrounding itself in fire, and then charging at Emonga, knocking the squirrel Pokémon down and out.

"Go, Emonga!" Kamitsure shouted, sending out the same squirrel Pokémon who'd been battling first. "Aerial Ace!"

"Nitro Charge again!"

However, much to Emonga's surprise, Chaoboo was able to move before it, charging at the Pokémon and slamming into it. Emonga quickly retaliated, slashing at the pig Pokémon and flying back up into the air.

"Volt Change!"

"Pound!"

Emonga quickly threw an electric ball at Chaoboo, knocking the pig Pokémon down and out, and quickly returned back to its trainer, who sent out a zebra-like Pokémon next. Meanwhile, Belle had returned Chaoboo to its Poké Ball, sending out her next Pokémon.

"Go, Munna!"

"Zeburaika, use Spark!"

"Munna, Psybeam!"

The zebra Pokémon, Zeburaika, quickly charged itself with electricity as it galloped towards Munna, slamming into the tiny, pink Pokémon. Munna quickly fired an oddly colored beam at Zeburaika in retaliation, but Danny couldn't see if the Pokémon was hurt from the attack or not.

"Munna, return!" Belle shouted, taking out Munna's Poké Ball and returning it. "Alright… Go, Chillarmy!" With that, she quickly sent out the chinchilla-like Pokémon, who immediately began cleaning the floors with its tail…

"Spark!"

"Double Slap!"

As Zeburaika charged towards Chillarmy, it finally stopped cleaning the floors and moved out of the way of Zeburaika's attack, using its tail to wrap around its back leg and hop up on its back. Chillarmy then began beating Zeburaika with its tail, much to the zebra Pokémon's disdain. Belle, on the other hand…

"Oh, my god! That's such a good idea! My Chillarmy's, like, a super genius! Okay, okay… Let's use Pound!"

"Zeburaika, use Discharge!"

As Chillarmy began beating Zeburaika with its tail once again, Zeburaika let loose a flash of electricity, electrocuting Chillarmy, who fell off its back in surprise.

"Spark!"

Chillarmy had no time to protect itself or run away as Zeburaika charged at it; aside from getting slammed into, Chillarmy was, once again, electrocuted, rendering the chinchilla Pokémon paralyzed.

"Oh, no, Chillarmy! Um… uh… what should I do? Uwahhh…"

"Discharge!"

"Chillarrrrmmmmyyyy! D-double slap!"

Chillarmy didn't stand a chance against yet again electric shock, and the furry Pokémon fell back on its back, unconscious. Belle returned it to its Poké Ball with a sob…

"Your death will not be in vain, Chillarmy!… And so, go, Haderia!"

As Danny wondered just when Belle had been training her Pokémon, Belle sent out the dog Pokémon, Haderia, which had apparently evolved from her Yorterrie that she caught a couple of days ago.

"Haderia, use Bite!"

"Zeburaika, use Spark!"

As the two Pokémon charged towards each other, Danny was making bets on which trainer would win… Naturally, she was voting for Belle.

* * *

"So anyways," Cheren began, sitting on top of an unconscious Brendan. "Did Belle and Danny go challenge the gym again?"

Pearl nodded, sitting next to Cheren on top of her brother. "Yeah, that's right. I think Touya and Touko went with them… or after them, I can't remember."

"…Huh." Cheren looked off nearby, where Brendan's Swampert was busy trying to teach Danny's newly caught Yuniran how to speak.

…Unfortunately, Ed kept on getting so excited that he'd pass out into a blob on the floor, and Swampert would patiently wait for him to recover before they'd continue.

"…Maybe I should…?"

"Should what?"

Cheren shook his head and got up. "Nothing. I'm going to head to the gym."

"Okay! Good luck!"

As Cheren neared the exit/entrance of the Pokémon, while Ed fainted from excitement again, he ran into Danny, Belle, Touko, and Touya, who were all walking into the building, talking together.

"Hey, hey! Cheren, look, look! Danny and I both got the Bolt Badge! Eheh!~"

"…That's great, you guys. And so, Danny."

"What is it, forehead boy?"

Cheren reached up to touch his forehead and continued talking, "…Danny!"

"What? What is it?"

"I… challenge you to a battle! Outside this Pokémon Center, right now!"

"Huhhhh?"

* * *

Zeburaika's English name is Zebstrika, Chaoboo's name is Pignite, Haderia is Herdier, Emonga is Emolga, Chillarmy is Minccino, and... is that all the Pokemon in this chapter? I can't remember. :|


	33. Chapter Thirty Two VS Cheren

Author's Notes: I love Heat Stamping everything to death. It's so much fun. Also, Heat Stamp is called Heat Crash in the English version.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Two

Standing outside of the Pokémon Center now, Cheren and Danny stood across from one another, about to battle, with Touko being the referee.

"Alright, you guys! Um… how do I do this?"

"Just tell us when to start."

"Right!… In that case, let the battle between Cheren and Danny… START!"

Taking out a Poké Ball and tossing it in the air, Cheren let out his first Pokémon, a purple, leopard-like one. Upon coming out, the Pokémon seemed to "meow" but that could've simply been a stereotype because it looked like a cat. Danny quickly sent out her Chaoboo, Fire Pig, to fight first.

"Lepardas! Use Fake Out!"

"Use Heat Stamp!"

Cheren's Pokémon, apparently called Lepardas, moved quickly, almost a blur, and appeared in front of Fire Pig and smacked its paws together in front of his face. Naturally, Fire Pig flinched from this, but for some reason, he didn't attack Lepardas at all.

"Torment!"

"Heat Stamp again!"

As Lepardas hissed at Fire Pig, Fire Pig quickly jumped up in the air, surrounding himself in fire, and slammed down on Lepardas, practically destroying the sidewalk while he was at it.

"Haha! Let's use Heat Stamp… AGAIN!"

However, to Danny's surprise, her Pokédex began beeping, though she couldn't seem to figure out that the beeping was coming from her Pokédex, which Cheren had to tell her about. She quickly took out the device and looked at the screen…

"Fire Pig cannot use Heat Stamp due to Torment!"

"Ehhh? That sucks… then, Arm Thrust!"

"Fury Swipes!"

The two Pokémon ran at each other, Fire Pig striking Lepardas with his arms multiple times. On the second strike, though, Lepardas fell down to its side, unconscious…

Cheren quickly returned Lepardas, mumbling something to himself that Danny couldn't hear. "In that case… Hatooboo!" he shouted, letting out a gray, bird Pokémon next to battle.

"Heat Stamp!"

"Air Cutter."

Once again, Fire Pig jumped up in the air and slammed back down on the bird Pokémon, Hatooboo… And the bird Pokémon fainted from the fury that was Fire Pig's flaming butt.

Cheren didn't say anything, didn't even sigh as he returned the Pokémon to its Poké Ball. "…Janovy, let's go!"

Sending out the green, snake/lizard-like Pokémon who had thought he'd killed his trainer earlier, Janovy merely crossed its arms and glared at Fire Pig.

"Ohh? What're you gonna do… flame me to death?"

"…Danny, can I just attack this guy with no order?"

"If it makes you feel happy, go ahead."

"HOOORRAAAAHHHH!"

Stamping on the ground and setting himself on fire, Fire Pig charged at Janovy while shouting a heroic battle cry.

"Vine Whip!…"

But, alas, Cheren was too late in giving his Pokémon an order. Fire Pig slammed into Janovy, knocking the lizard Pokémon down and out.

"Say," Swampert said, watching the battle with everyone else. "Is it just me, or does anyone smell bacon?"

Nobody answered his question.

"…Hiyappu, let's go!" Cheren shouted, sending out the blue and yellow monkey-like Pokémon. Danny suddenly remembered seeing that Pokémon before, back at the Sanyou Gym… "Water Gun!"

"Arm Thrust!" Danny ordered.

Fire Pig moved first, running up to Hiyappu and striking it multiple times with his arms. Hiyappu didn't last too long from these attacks, falling over and fainting…

"Shortest battle ever, huh?" Swampert added. For some reason, he started giggling to himself, mumbling, "Oh, man, I must be pregnant or something! I'm smelling bacon!… Why? Oh, man, I need help… All this time I thought I was a man! But if I'm having unexplained cravings for bacon, then-"

"…As I thought, you're strong," Cheren simply said as he returned Hiyappu to its Poké Ball. No one was even listening to Swampert's mumbling. "…Huh. I wonder why that's so?"

Danny tilted her head to the side, frowning. "Cheren? You okay?"

"…Yeah. I'm… just perfectly fine…" he mumbled, walking back into the Pokémon Center, looking down at the floor the entire time. Naturally, everyone else followed him in there, most of them concerned about what was wrong with Cheren.

Cheren waited silently at the counter, still staring down at the ground as he waited for the nurse to return his Pokémon. She did so, in about a minute or so, and Cheren was quick to put the Poké Balls back into his coat pocket. Then he turned around, only to see… everyone standing right behind him, grinning now.

"Hi, Cheren! What's up?"

"…"

Meanwhile, Swampert had stopped questioning his true gender and was back to teaching Ed to speak again. But, alas, Ed passed out from the extreme excitement of learning the words "yes" and "no". Swampert could only sigh, and looked up at where the trainers all stood, intending to join in on their conversation while he waited for Ed to recover.

Much to his surprise, though, Cheren had suddenly pushed through the group and was racing out of the Pokémon Center.

"Cheren! Hey, come back!"

"Catch that scallywag!"

"…Scallywag?"

Regardless, everyone ran after Cheren, and Swampert watched them with a bit of interest, and then looked back down as Ed recovered from fainting. Ed popped back up into his regular, jelly-like form, and looked up at Swampert expectantly.

"Let's start again. Say… I'm hungry."

"I… I'm… I-I-I-I-!" Ed flopped back down into a pile of goop.

Swampert sighed again. This was seriously going nowhere. He'd already tried to teach him the alphabet, but Ed couldn't get past the letter A. Maybe he should join the high-speed chase outside…? There'd certainly be enough time to catch Cheren, and maybe go to the amusement park, before Ed would recover…

* * *

"Cherreeeennnn! Stop running away, will you?"

"Just quit following me, won't you?"

"NEVERRRR!"

As Cheren ran through the streets of Raimon City, he was _still_ being followed by his group of friends. Of course, now some of them were getting tired from running, and began slowing down to stop…

"Danny!" Touko shouted, running alongside the blonde girl. "Let's try to catch him together, got it? Go that direction and run until you reach the end of the road, and then go west; I'm sure he's trying to go to Route 5!"

Danny nodded, splitting away from the rest of them and running down the next road split. Turning multiple corners, she get running until she arrived at the street in front of the Pokémon Musical building. Cheren was already at the end of the road, arriving at the gate building. Determined to catch him, Danny tried her best to run even faster…

And then she slammed into Touko, who was emerging from the road she'd been running through, and the two girls collapsed to the pavement, wincing in pain.

"Ow… Jeez, Danny!"

"I should be the one saying that! _You_ ran into _me_!"

"What was that you said?"

"…What _are_ you two doing?"

Touko and Danny looked up from where they were still laying on the road to see… Kamitsure, the Gym Leader, standing over them. Kamitsure was looking at them the way someone would look at a fly that just fell into their drink.

"Um… laying on the sidewalk?"

"What _were_ we doing anyways…? Kamitsure? Any ideas on what we were doing?"

Kamitsure grimaced. "…I wouldn't know. After all, I asked you, didn't I?"

…And then, Belle and Iris caught up to them, both of them exhausted, standing next to them and trying to catch their breath. Of course, Touko, Danny, and Kamitsure simply looked at them with blank expressions.

Iris spoke first, still trying to catch her breath. "Did… you guys… catch Cheren yet?"

"Catch Cheren…? Oh, yeah, that's what we doing! Touko, get your big damn butt off of me!"

"Excuse me?"

Regardless of what Danny had said, Touko got off her, running off towards the gate building leading out to Route 5. Not far behind were Danny, Iris, Belle, and for some reason, Kamitsure, all of them running too.

* * *

…He had seriously lost it back there.

Now that he was out here, watching a bunch of people perform circus tricks and stuff, he was able to think more clearly now.

He'd completely freaked out back there after losing to Danny.

…But the question is, why?

Maybe he didn't expect himself to lose so easily to her?

…Maybe because he'd been a trainer longer (though not that much) than her?

…Maybe it was because he'd never be able to become the champion if he lost all his battles to a single Pokémon?

"Oh, if it isn't little Kamitsure?" a man standing next to Cheren asked loudly, walking away and over to where some people were walking by. His bright red hair looked rather fiery, and it was pulled back into a ponytail. Cheren had also noticed that the man had nine Poké Balls, three hanging onto a buckle around his waist and the other six hanging on a necklace around his neck.

Cheren gave the group a glance, and then quickly realized that it was Belle, Iris, Danny, and Touko along with the blonde Gym Leader Kamitsure. Trying his best to be unseen where he sat among the grass and people, Cheren overheard every word they said.

"Hello, Adeku, sir," Kamitsure greeted.

"…? Who's this guy? He's all hairy and stuff," Belle simply said. True, the man _was_ hairy… Wait, what the hell was Cheren thinking?

"This is Adeku, the Isshu League champion," Kamitsure answered, glancing down at the four girls, who were all now looking up at the man, Adeku, in amazement.

Touko frowned and asked, "But… what's the champion doing in a place like this?"

"Well, you see, I'm a traveler!" Adeku answered. "When the league's not open, I travel around in my free time."

"…When the league's not open?"

"The Pokémon League only opens up in autumn and winter. Therefore, we of the league have free time to do whatever we please."

Touko's mouth became a little half O in response to that. "Ohhhh."

"Anyways, it's very nice to meet you ladies!" Adeku continued with a bow. "It's a pleasure. My name is Adeku."

One by one, they all introduced themselves to Adeku, and Cheren felt a little jealous that _they_ all got to talk to the champion of Isshu… Maybe he should go out there and join the conversation?

"Well, if you don't mind us asking," Kamitsure began. "You haven't seen a boy running around here, have you? We're looking for him."

"A boy?… That doesn't really narrow things down for me."

…Oh, no. Cheren got a horrible, sinking feeling down in his stomach at this…

"Oh, let's describe him for you!" Belle hopped around excitedly at this. "He's got glasses!" she began, making a shape of his glasses in front of her eyes. "Like this!

"And he's wearing a blue jacket!" Iris added.

"And he has black hair… with a piece that sticks up in the air!" Touko said, motioning with her hand how the piece of hair looked.

"And… he's got a really big forehead, like this!" Danny finished, pushing back her hair and making her forehead even bigger than it already was.

Cheren consciously touched his forehead at this comment. Why the hell did Danny keep mentioning his forehead? It wasn't _that_ big, was it? And she certainly had no room to talk… she didn't have a small forehead herself!

"Oh? That boy? He's right over there!"

…Damn.

Cheren quickly jumped up, pushing through the crowd of people to reach the grassy area outside of the fence that lined the route. Of course, this action didn't go unnoticed by the girls - _damn women and their radar!_ - and they immediately ran after him, Danny and Belle paying no heed to the fact that a performance was going on as they ran through all the people.

"There he is, over there!" Iris pointed, having climbed up on the roof of a trailer parked there.

No, no, no, no! At this rate, they were going to catch him! Damn it, now he was freaking out again… he had to get away from them, quick…! Cheren ran, ran, ran through the grass, his glasses falling off his face, desperate to get away from these crazy, ravenous women.

Suddenly, his face met the grass, and a heavy weight landed on his back.

And, of all people that could've tackled him, it had to be **her**.

* * *

Adeku's English name is Alder, in case you're wondering. And I'm too lazy to go look up the English names of Cheren's team of Pokemon.


	34. Chapter Thirty Three

Author's Notes: Haven't been able to post this chapter because was acting up. Graraopu.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Three

"…What do you want?" Cheren asked, surprisingly calm.

"Nothing. Just wanted to check on how you're doing."

"Well, let's see, you're currently SITTING ON ME."

Making a weird face, Danny got off of Cheren's back, sitting down next to him as he sat up. "…So, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Cheren answered. He took off his glasses, rubbing them on his shirt, and then put them back on his face, avoiding looking at Danny.

"You sure? 'Cause you ran out of the Pokémon Center like someone set your tail on fire."

"…I don't have a tail, and I wasn't on fire."

"Don't play word games with me, Cheren! You _know_ I'm an idiot!"

Cheren simply glared at Danny, who returned the glare, though Danny didn't know why Cheren was glaring at her in the first place. Neither of them blinked, just continued glaring at each other… One could see the afternoon sunlight glinting off their giant foreheads…

"Hey, guyyyyssss!" Belle shouted, running up to where the two sat. Trying to catch her breath, she managed to say, "Danny, you caught Cheren? Oh, are you guys having a staring contest? Let me be the ref, 'kay?"

Sitting down in front of them, Belle watched the "staring contest" with extreme determination. Neither Danny nor Cheren had blinked yet, and Belle couldn't help but think of what an intense match this was… This could go down in the record books.

…Suddenly, though, Cheren burst out laughing, and Danny did as well. Belle jumped in surprise, looking at the two of them laughing. And so, she decided to join in too, though she had no idea why they were laughing in the first place. By now, Iris, Kamitsure, and Adeku had found them, and they just stared at the three laughing kids like they were out of their minds.

* * *

Not too long later, they'd left the grass and headed back out to the clearing with the performing people. "I see, so you're Cheren, huh?" Adeku nodded. "And you want to be the Pokémon League champion…"

"…Yes, that's correct."

"Tell me, what do you think a champion should be?"

Cheren paused, seeming to think about this answer. "…Um… strong, I suppose? Yes, I believe the strongest trainer should be champion!"

Adeku nodded. "I see, I see… Strong, huh? Strong, strong…"

"Strong?"

"STRONG!"

Belle and Danny proceeded to hop around, staring at each other and shouting that word while Adeku mumbled that very word a couple of times. Touko jumped in on the strong "STONG" shouting, and Iris merely shook her head while Kamitsure stood there in silence, wondering where in life she turned wrong. Probably around the part where she decided to come and help them look for Cheren.

"Yes, yes, there's no mistaking it!" Adeku nodded, and then noticed everyone else, being crazy and everything. He didn't seem too disturbed by their craziness, and continued on talking. "…Anyways! These two kids over here, they think that very same way! And so… will two of you battle those two kids?"

This seemed to get everyone's attention, and they all looked up at Adeku. "…Huh? We weren't listening."

"I'd like two of you to battle these two kids!" He pointed a finger at where two little kids stood, watching the festival with wide eyes. They both wore helmets, and Danny realized that the two kids were kindergartners, like the ones they ran into on the way to Shippou City.

"Danny and I'll do it," Cheren simply said, snapping Danny out of her trance. Danny looked at him in confusion.

"Huh? Wait, what?"

"You and me. We're gonna battle those two kids."

"…Right now?"

"_Yes_, right now!"

Adeku had turned around, to call out to the two little kids. "Hey, you two! Come over here for a moment, okay?"

The two children looked up and, holding hands, walked over to where everyone else was standing.

"Danny, you ready?" Cheren asked, glancing at Danny quickly before looking at the children. "Then… let's go!"

The two kindergartners tossed their Poké Balls in the air, letting out their Pokémon, both the same kind; the brown and black terrier-like Pokémon, Haderia. Danny sent out Fire Pig, and Cheren sent out his Janovy.

"Leaf Storm!"

"Heat Stamp!"

"Take Down!"

"Cheer Up!"

Three of the four Pokémon began attacking, Fire Pig jumping up in the air and crashing down on one of the Haderia with his supreme flaming butt. The other Haderia, the one who hadn't be hit, slammed into Fire Pig, knocking him off from where he sat on the first Haderia. Fire Pig stumbled back, managing to catch himself from falling down, while Janovy began whirling around, sending out a flurry of sharp leaves, cutting up the two dog Pokémon.

"Arm Thrust!"

"Vine Whip!"

"Use Take Down again, Haderia!"

"You too, Haderia! Use Take Down!"

Both of the Haderia charged towards Fire Pig and Janovy; Janovy quickly whipped out a vine, slapping one of the incoming dog Pokémon and knocking it down on its side. Apparently, that single whip was enough to knock it unconscious, and it fell unconscious.

Meanwhile, Fire Pig attacked the other Haderia, striking it with his arms, and on the third hit, that Haderia too, fainted.

The two children returned their Haderia to their Poké Balls silently, still holding the other's hand, looking a little sad. However, Adeku was quick to cheer them up…

"You two did a great job with that battle! And your Pokémon seemed glad, too!" Patting them both on their heads, Adeku stood back up and turned to Danny and Cheren. "Now, you two. You're both very strong, and I must thank you both for agreeing to battle these two. However, I want all of you to remember… do not overexert yourselves, and do not overexert your Pokémon. Also-"

Now, Danny only heard the part up to "now, you two," and was distracted by playing with the little kindergartners and cheering them up. However, the others all listened intently to Adeku as he talked on about things that Brendan would've loved to make fun of…

* * *

Back at Raimon City's Pokémon Center, Pearl was wondering whether or not the other four girls had caught Cheren. 'Course, she herself had gotten exhausted and opted to return back to the Pokémon Center with Touya. Brendan still lay dead on the floor of the center.

"So, I was thinking that we should get going to the next city, now that everyone's challenged the Gym Leader?" Pearl asked. "What's the next city anyways?"

"Um… I think it's Hodomoe City?"

"Hodomoe, Hodomoe… That's kinda fun to say. Say it, Touya! Hodomoe!"

Touya frowned, looking away and quietly mumbling, "…Hodomoe…"

"Louder!"

"Hodomoe!"

"LOUDER!"

"HODOMOE!"

Both Touya and Pearl jumped up from their seats, shouting, "HODOMOE!"

…And earning themselves stares from everyone else in the center.

Pearl noticed then that Brendan was finally getting up, having been brought back to life by the Hodomoe chants. "Hi, Bren."

"Is it just me," Brendan began and pointed a finger at her, "or have you been getting crazier ever since you came to Isshu?"

Brendan was killed again by his sister, who proceeded to storm off back to the room they were all staying in, leaving Touya to watch the dead Brendan on the ground.

* * *

Back in their room, Pearl grumbled about a million things, 90% of which had nothing to do with Brendan making her angry. But, now that she thought about it, she _had_ been getting crazier… maybe Isshu had, like, a crazy bug going around? Maybe that was why everyone was crazy like her?

No, those were just thoughts that made her feel better. She really was becoming crazy. Not like the Pearl who was always calm, cool, and collected.

…Arceus, if this kept up, she'd have to go to rehab…!

The sound of something ringing, though, got her attention, and she saw a cell phone sitting on one of the bunk beds. Danny's cell phone, in fact, because no one else there had a cell phone. Pearl stared at the ringing phone, wondering what she should do.

And, well, like they say: curiosity killed the cat.

And so, Pearl picked up the cell phone and answered it. "Hello?"


	35. Chapter Thirty Four

Author's Notes: We finally figure out who Danny's cousin is.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Four

"Hello?"

"…Huh? This isn't Danny…"

"No, this is Pearl. Danny's not here right now, but I can take a message!~"

"P-pearl? Er… Uh…"

Whoever was on the other line hung up, and Pearl merely shrugged and tossed the phone back on the bed. That kid, who was on the phone, seemed afraid at the sound of her name. Why? Had Danny been saying bad things about her again?

…

Once again, curiosity killed the cat, and Pearl picked up the phone and began looking through it. Pearl was a very, very bad rabbit. A bad rabbit indeed.

* * *

Adeku had left off somewhere, and Kamitsure had ordered them to come with her somewhere. The five of them hadn't a single clue where she was going, though, but they followed her nonetheless. And despite them asking her a million questions, Kamitsure didn't answer back.

When they approached a bridge, a very, very long drawbridge, with the sides lifted up in the air, they had to wonder what was going on.

Danny secretly thought that Kamitsure was intending to push them into the water below, but the others were merely in awe at the bridge.

Kamitsure walked over to where a person sat behind a counter, apparently controlling the drawbridge, and began talking to him. Naturally, Danny was wondering whether or not Kamitsure was going to team up with this guy to throw them in the water. And the others were still in awe.

Eventually, Kamitsure walked back to them, not paying heed to the fact that Danny had raised her arms in front of herself.

"Now, just watch!"

There was no need to tell them that, no need to tell even Danny that.

Against the bright sky, the sides of the bridge slowly came down. The water sparkled, and the bridge almost seemed to be sparkling too. The sunlight reflected off the bridge, blinding all who looked at it. When the bridge finally came to a stop, Kamitsure turned back to them.

…Even though the bridge was finished moving, they still looked at it in awe.

"Um… I'll be heading back to Raimon City, then… Good luck with your gym challenge," she mumbled, walking around them and away. However, someone grabbed onto her wrist, stopping her, and Kamitsure looked back to see that Danny was the one holding onto her hand. However, Danny was still entranced with the bridge, and didn't seem to have noticed that she'd instinctively grabbed Kamitsure's wrist while she was walking by.

"Um…" Kamitsure tried to pull her wrist away. "…Can you let go?"

"…Huh?" Danny asked slowly. She blinked and looked over at Kamitsure, and then realized that she'd grabbed Kamitsure. "Oh, sorry, did I grab you?"

The other four finally snapped out of their own trance, looking over at where Kamitsure still stood. Danny finally let go of Kamitsure, and said, "Thanks, Kami… Kami-chan!"

"…Don't call me that."

"Fine! Kami! Tsure? I'll call you Kamitsure…! No, wait…"

Kamitsure continued walking back to Raimon City, while Danny tried to think up of nicknames for Kamitsure; Belle was joining in on this, but neither seemed to be able to think of a suitable name for her.

"Kamitsure-sama? K… Camille? No, let's call her Ellie!"

"What? Why Ellie?"

"Cause… like, electricity? Uh, that doesn't make sense, does it…?"

"We should go back to Raimon City too," Cheren interrupted, snapping his fingers to get their attention. "We can't leave without the others."

"Oh… Oh yeah! I forgot!"

"Eheh, me too!"

Iris sighed. "You guys are such kids!"

"But I'll bet you forgot too, didn't you… Iris-chan?"

"Don't randomly add that onto my name! That's weird! And random! Randomly weird! Weirdly random!"

* * *

Back at the Pokémon Center, Danny and Belle were busy talking Touya to death, while Iris intentionally stepped on Brendan's back. Cheren stared at Brendan, who was immune to the wild Iris on his back. Meanwhile, Pearl had returned from doing whatever it is that Pearls do, and stomped over to Danny, Belle, and Touya.

Without another word, she grabbed Danny by her arms and began dragging her away, leaving Touya to die at the hands of the motor mouth named Belle.

"Whoa, whoa! Pearly, what's wrong?"

"Don't call me that!… You! YOU!"

"What is it? What'd I do?"

"You… Your 'cousin'… Is none other than **her**!"

"Why is it bolded? And who's her?… She?"

"You know, she called you while you were gone! I answered it, but she hung up faster than you can spell Minezumi! I thought about it, and I realized I recognized the sound of her voice, so I looked through your phone…"

"You looked through my phone? Hey, I could've had adult stuff on there! No, wait, that's my private stuff! That's, like, an invasion of privacy or something! I could, like, sue!"

"Yeah, right! You sneaky sneak! Sneaky snake!"

Danny said nothing, struggling to breath because Pearl was practically holding her up in the air by the neck of her shirt. "You're… killing… me…"

"Your cousin… is none other than the girl who tortured us for a year… no, longer than that! That girl who got us into more trouble than I can count! The rude little rat who never listened to what I said…"

"Can't… breathe…"

"…Raven."

* * *

"Wait a sec… let me get this straight… You're saying that Danny's cousin is the same girl that you traveled around Hoenn and to Sinnoh with?"

"Yep."

"And that you only found this out because you snooped through her phone?"

"Yep!"

Cheren removed his glasses and began rubbing the sides of his head, mumbling something to himself. Meanwhile, everyone else was… just how they usually were. Albeit, maybe a little more excited, but that was it.

"I can't believe this! I mean, how are you two even related? Cousins? What kind of cheap plot twist is that? No, no, not even a plot twist… that's just plain stupid!"

"It's not that bad, right?" Touko asked with a shrug. "Big whoop. She just happens to be related to someone Brendan and Pearl know. It's not that big of a deal, is it?"

Iris tapped her chin for a moment before talking, "…Danny? Didn't you say that your cousin and a couple of her friends were the ones who-"

Danny promptly tackled Iris to the floor, covering up her mouth before she could finish. However, sensing the presence of PURE EVIL, she looked up to see Brendan and Pearl standing over her.

"Your cousin did _what _with her friends?"

"I-I can't tell you that! Um… it's a secret!"

"Secret, huh? I'll show you a secret, you little-!" Pearl screamed, diving towards Danny and grabbing her by the back of her shirt. Danny immediately began whimpering like a small dog, bracing herself for the same death that Brendan had suffered multiple times. At least he recovered from his multiple deaths.

"STOP!" Cheren shouted, having put his glasses back on and stood up, holding out his hand as a signal for them to stop. "Don't kill her just yet. Let her finish what she has to say… And so, Danny! What is it that Iris was trying to say?"

"Um…" Sighing, Danny got off of Iris and crawled over to hide behind Cheren before continuing, "The truth is, my cousin… well, that is, Raven, she got together with some of her friends and, uh… they got enough money to buy a ticket to Isshu… but they couldn't decide on who should go, so they just decided to choose me…"

"Oh, that's it? Well, that's perfectly fine then!"

"Uh, yeah! That's it! Hahah!"

"Danny? What about the part with the cell pho-"

Danny fell to the floor dramatically. "Iris! Please! Stop coughing me up to these guys! By the time I've finished talking, they're gonna kill me!"

"…So," Brendan began, "what was that about a cell phone?"

"W-well… She happened to work together with some smart people, and they… fixed my cell phone."

"Fixed your cell phone?"

Danny mumbled the rest quietly, grabbing Cheren and placing him in front of her again. After all, his forehead would reflect all incoming attacks.

"Sorry, what was that? Couldn't hear you."

"And my phone… PokéNav… pictures…"

"Whattt? Can't hear you!"

"And my phone connects with her Pokénav so I can take pictures and call her and stuff!"

Danny ran out of the Pokémon Center as fast as she could, ran all the way through Raimon City, out onto Route 5, screaming like she was out of her mind, and leaving everyone else behind.

"What? She's overreacting, isn't she?" Pearl laughed.

"So, aside from getting crazier from being here, you're also getting nicer?" Brendan gasped. "Who are you and what've you done with my sister?"

Brendan died yet again, and Iris sat on him just because she could. After all, he made a good couch cushion. Nice and squishy.


	36. Chapter Thirty Five

Author's Notes: Yacon's English name is Clay. And... this is going to sound really, really sad, but... the first time I came to Hodomoe (by the way, that place's English name is Driftveil), I couldn't figure out how to enter the buildings. I spent 10 minutes running around trying to figure it out, and then I accidentally entered the building when I pressed the up button and...

Yes. That was a new level of stupid for me. :|

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Five

Later on that day, everyone finally left the Pokémon Center and proceeded to Route 5, where they went to the bridge that'd been lowered earlier. As they crossed the long, long, LONG bridge, they spotted Danny, laying face down on the bridge, and Iris ran over to her and poked her with her foot.

"She's dead!" Iris announced, and Brendan began praying before getting elbowed in the head by Pearl.

Danny suddenly hopped up, though, apparently having never been dead in the first place. With that, she hopped over to stand next to Belle, and they continued walking down the bridge, acting as if Danny had never been laying on the ground at all.

When they reached the end of the bridge, they walked down onto extremely green grass and… then they were in Hodomoe City.

Trees lined the area leading off the bridge, and as the group went through this area, the buildings came into view, and another bridge - a much smaller one - lead across a river, and into the real "city" part.

But at the end of that bridge stood a man. He was a big man, and he looked every bit like a stereotypical cowboy.

"There isn't enough room around town for the both of us…"

Everyone whirled around to stare at Touko, who'd randomly done a Southern accent and said the above line.

"Um… Touko…? What was-"

"I thought it would suit the mood. Sorry."

"You kids!"

All of them screamed and whirled around to see that the man at the end of the bridge was talking. To them, apparently.

"I'm sorry, sir, it was their fault, really!"

Pearl stomped on Brendan's foot, who held in a not-manly squeal. "Um… hi there, mister! How can we help you?"

Fixing the cowboy hat on his head, the man continued talking, "Kamitsure lowered the drawbridge for you, huh? I'm this town's Gym Leader, Yacon!"

"And there ain't enough room for the both of us…" Touko said again, quietly though, so only her friends heard her.

"However, this isn't the time for welcoming," the man, Yacon, continued. "We've got a problem here; it's Team Plasma! I saw 'em running out of this town for some reason, though, but I can't seem to find them."

"…Well, that's a problem, then," Cheren simply said with a fix of his glasses. "They might've stolen something again, and that might be why they're running."

"Don't tell me…" Belle gasped. "It's another Pokémon's head?"

"…Belle, that was a fossil, not a live Pokémon. Don't say that, you're giving that Yacon guy thoughts that they're stealing heads off live Pokémon."

"…I'll be away from my gym looking for these Plasma guys!" Yacon interrupted them. "…For you guys to get Kamitsure to lower the bridge for you, you all must be some talented trainers. Help me out with finding Team Plasma! I'll let you challenge the gym after that."

With that, Yacon abruptly turned around and began walking away from them, leaving them alone on the bridge. Touko seemed like she wanted to say something in a Southern accent again, but smartly decided not to.

"…Hmm… this appears to be a problem…" Cheren grumbled. "You guys! I'm going on ahead to look for Team Plasma, got it?"

"What? Why?"

However, Cheren was already hurrying away, off to save the day because he was a superhero. Danny looked back at her friends, and said, "I guess we should help out, too, huh…?"

* * *

With Pearl deciding to stay behind in the Pokémon Center so she could worry about how crazy she's been getting, everyone else headed out, to find Cheren and to stop Team Plasma with… whatever they were doing.

Unfortunately, they couldn't find Cheren anywhere at all…

Touko and Brendan both got distracted by the market and Touya had disappeared off somewhere, where in reality he was still with the group but unseen, as usual. As Danny, Belle, Iris, and the invisible Touya headed south of Hodomoe City, Danny thought she saw a glimpse of a very familiar piece of hair sticking up farther away.

"I think I found Cheren."

"What? Really? Where?"

Danny pointed off towards where there were giant boxes… no, buildings that looked like boxes set up. It looked a lot like a construction area… "Over there."

"How'd you spot him?" Iris asked, looking slightly amazed.

"Aside from his forehead reflecting the sunlight, I saw that little piece of hair he has! The one that sticks up on his head?"

"You spotted it from that far away?"

"There's something kind of amazing about that in its own way…"

Regardless, the four of them hurried off to that area, weaving through the building box things and through the tall grass. They spotted people working there, dressed in blue outfits that covered their entire bodies and yellow helmets. The people didn't seem to be paying any attention to the children passing by them, though.

Finally, they found Cheren, who was looking around with a confused look on his face.

"Cheren! There you are, Forehead Boy!" Danny yelled.

Cheren touched his forehead and then, realizing who'd shouted that, glared in their direction. "Stop calling me that! My forehead's not _that_ big…"

"You kidding, that thing reflects the light!"

"Quit it! Anyways, I can't find Mr. Yacon anywhere, and I haven't been able to spot any Team Plasma people… All I see are boxes."

"…But the door's right here, isn't it?"

They all looked over at Belle, who had a hand against the end of one of the box things. She pressed on it, and the door opened up.

"…Well, uh…" Cheren was clearly at a loss for words. So he just pushed his glasses up and said, "I have nothing else to say. Let's go in!"

And so, the five of them walked into the box building thing, where they were blasted by cold air. It was freezing. It wasn't winter, right? It was summer, right?

…Well, apparently not inside the box building thing. Air conditioners were running, and the floors were soaked. Danny felt her skin tingling and thought she saw water on herself. But that might've been her brain going into shock from the sudden temperature change.

"C-c-can I leave yet?" Iris asked. Not bothering for an answer, she twirled around and hurried back outside. You see, the Iris species is not well suited for the cold…

"Y-you know what would be really funny?" Danny asked, shivering and stammering. "If, like, Team Plasma was h-hiding out in this building?"

They all thought about that for a moment, and then decided that it was worth a look.

They split up, going around the building, where there were more boxes lined up, and workers sat on top of the boxes, laughing and having normal conversations despite the cold. That would explain why they were dressed like that, in blue jumpsuits that covered up nearly all of their body. Some of them glanced at the children running around the building, but ignored them after a while.

Eventually, Danny and Belle ran across a suspicious looking box, one that wasn't closed, with a gaping opening. Calling for Cheren and Touya, who met up with them quickly, they both simply pointed at the box.

"There."

"Why is it open?…"

The four of them looked at one another, nodded, and headed into the box…

…And it was a good thing none of them betted money that Danny would be wrong, because they'd have to pay her afterwards.

Yes, inside that box stood a bunch of Team Plasma people, huddled around an old man in odd looking robes, who was beginning to talk.

"You guys…" the old man began, his teeth chattering. "Huddle around me more, I'm cold…"

Cheren sighed. "Jeez, look at these guys. Hiding in a freezing box…"

"That's what I call determined!… Or something like that."

The old man sighed. "…My friends, please get rid of these children."

"Yes, oh great Seven Sage, sir!"

All of the Team Plasma people moved away from the old man to line up in front of the four kids.

"We'll each take two of them, okay?"

"That's sounds pretty nasty."

"…? I don't get it."

Regardless of whether or not Belle got it, the four of them split up, each of them battling two of the Team Plasma grunts. This was finished in no time, no time at all. Even though they were freezing their butts off, they still managed to do it.

"C-c-cold! Such cold treatment we've been given!"

"We… need to give these kids the cold shoulder! Come on, guys, cold shoulder!"

Just like that, all the grunts turned around, showing their shoulders to the four kids and pretending that they didn't exist.

But then, someone walked into the box area, and Cheren, Danny, Belle, and Touya turned around to see Yacon, along with several of the workers they'd seen earlier.

"Hey! So you guys were hiding out in this cold place, huh?" Yacon asked and began laughing loudly. "All right, you guys! Let's get these Pokémon burglars!"

"ROGER!"

With the four kids moving aside, the workers went over to the Plasma grunts, dragging them out of the box area one by one. Once they were all gone, including the old man, Yacon turned back to the four kids and began talking.

"Way to go, kids! Now, I'll be heading back to my gym, so you kids can come challenge me whenever you want!"

Tipping his cowboy hat at them, Yacon turned around and left the box. Danny sneezed all over Cheren, who was stunned and stood there in horror.


	37. Chapter Thirty Six

Author's Notes: A friend of the king is a friend indeed.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Six

"Alright! Let's go challenge the gym! Today! Right now!"

Not too long after Yacon had arrested those Plasma people, Danny, Cheren, Belle, and Touya returned to the Pokémon Center in Hodomoe. Iris had apparently already returned there, because wild Irises don't do well in the cold.

"…But didn't you just beat Kamitsure today?" Cheren asked with a sigh. He pushed his glasses up his nose for the millionth time that hour. "Give your Pokémon a break, why don't you?"

Danny shrugged. "Don't worry! Fire Pig says he loves to fight! Right… Fire Pig?" She quickly took out Fire Pig's Poké Ball and tossed it in the air, letting out the Chaoboo, who immediately answered with an energetic, "YEEAAHHH!"

Danny continued talking, "Doc just clicks her tongue at everything I say. Tiger just sits on Doc's head and spits, and I haven't used Ed in a battle yet. But, hey, this is a great opportunity! Let's go!" She started running in place, Fire Pig followed her example, and they were both making racing car noises for some reason.

Cheren looked at them in annoyance. "…Well, I'll go with you, then!… Which reminds me…" Cheren mumbled something quietly under his breath, which seemed to sound like, "I didn't battle Kamitsure…"

"SUTOPU!"

"What kind of word is that?"

Danny shrugged. "It's stop. I mean, uh… let's go to the gym, then!"

Belle was looking back and forth between the two as they talked, eating some kind of bread/bagel thing. Or maybe it was a donut. It was pretty hard to tell.

"I'll go with you guys too!" Belle chimed in between her chewing of her bread thing and Cheren and Danny talking. "…Mm, this thing is good."

"…What is that anyways?"

Belle shrugged. "Beats me. It tastes good, though."

* * *

So the three of them set out to the Hodomoe Gym, which, after asking the Pokémon Center nurse, they learnt was at the north of the city. They walked off towards the gym, but as they got closer to it, they noticed there was something going on in front of it.

…Along with Yacon, there was the old man and the Team Plasma grunts he'd captured earlier, and that weird man, Geechisu, who'd they'd run into before, with a long line of Team Plasma grunts behind him.

"…Mr. Yacon, it's a please to meet you. I am Team Plasma's Geechisu. You see, I've been told about your recent actions, and so I've come to retrieve my associates who are with you right now."

"What's that? My recent actions? Your friends have been stealing Pokémon, I'll have you know."

"Oh, no, that's just a simple misunderstanding. My friends are _rescuing_ poor Pokémon from evil humans."

"Is that so? Well, that's perfectly fine," Yacon began, surprising Cheren, Belle, and Danny with that line, "but I honestly don't think that's the reason why. On the contrary, your speech seems pretty much like one big lie to me. So, why are you even here in this city?"

Geechisu's expression didn't change a bit, not even the slightest movement. In fact, he hadn't even blinked. "Team Plasma is also interested in Hodomoe City. Besides those here right now, we actually have quite a lot of members."

"…I can't tell if you're lying or not, but you've won this without a fight." Yacon tipped his cowboy hat for no apparent reason and continued talking, "Fine! I got it, so I'll return these guys to you."

"As expected of this town's leader," Geechisu merely said. "Let's trade now, shall we? First, with the sage you have there."

Though no one seemed to listen to who would go first, because once Geechisu stepped forward, the old man and the two Plasma grunts who been behind Yacon hurried over to him.

"Lord Geechisu… thank you so very much…" the old man said in a hoarse voice.

"No, no. A friend of the king is a friend indeed! We are both apart of the Seven Sages, no?" Geechisu asked with a fake sounding laugh. "Now, everyone… We'll meet again another time."

The Team Plasma people began to leave then, walking past Cheren, Belle, and Danny as they headed towards the city's west exit. Once they were out of sight, the three kids hurried over to Yacon.

"You guys saw all of that, huh?" Yacon asked. "Sorry about letting those guys go after you caught them. You were probably coming over here to challenge the gym. In that case, I'll be going in the gym to wait! Don't keep me waiting for too long!"

As Yacon turned around and began walking back into the gym in front of them, Cheren merely asked, "By the way, did that Geechisu guy really say, 'A friend of the king is a friend indeed?'"

"Hmm…" Danny tapped her chin and turned to look at Belle. "I think I'm gonna use that phrase from now on! Belle! A friend of the king is a friend indeed!"

"Ahem… We are both apart of the Seven Sages, no?"

As Belle and Danny promptly began cracking up like that was the funniest thing ever, Cheren walked around the two and went into the gym. The two girls managed to not roll around on the ground and laugh and instead hurried after Cheren, heading into the gym.

Walking inside of the Hodomoe Gym lead to a room… that looked a bit like a reception hall. A counter was off to the left, behind which a woman sat, greeting them. A red carpet stretched out from the entrance to an odd looking platform, at which the carpet stopped.

"Alright, guys, should we stick together and go through the gym, or should we split up?"

"Stick together!"

"Oh, is that so? In that case…"

Cheren walked ahead of them, stood on the platform, and pressed a button. The platform began moving down below, apparently down underground to where the gym was, leaving Danny and Belle behind. Cheren could be seen fixing his glasses as he disappeared underground.

"…Did he really just do that?"

"…Uh, yeah. Heyyyy, Cheren, that's not fair!"

"Belle, we're going have to jump!"

"Won't we, like, die if we do that?"

Danny shook a finger around, making a noise that resembled "tsk" and quickly let Fire Pig back out of his Poké Ball. "Fire Pig! If I jumped down, all the way down there with you holding me, would I be safe?"

Fire Pig began flexing his arms, walking over to the open hole where the platform had been and peeking over it. He flinched, gulped, and looked back at Danny. "…Hah! That's no problem for me!"

"All right! I'll hop on your shoulder, and you'll jump, okay?"

"…Okay!"

Sure, Fire Pig _was _strong enough to hold Danny up with one arm, but was he really strong enough to face his sudden fear of heights? Why, yes, yes he was!

He jumped down through the hole and screamed the entire way down.

When they finally landed behind Cheren, who was busy battling a trainer down there, it went without saying that everyone turned around to look at the girl and Pokémon who'd dropped down from above. Because Fire Pig had screamed the entire time, and was covering up his face with his free hand. Because he is a MANLY MAN.

"…Oh, did we land already?" Fire Pig asked, sighing as he put down his trainer. "Thought I was gonna die there for a second!"

"…Fire Pig?"

"What?… Why're you looking at me like that?"

"…You're afraid of heights, aren't you? And clowns."

"It, uh, doesn't matter… let's battle, come onnnnn! Hooyah!" Fire Pig began jumping in place, obviously trying to change the subject while Danny stared at him suspiciously.

Danny merely shrugged, doing exactly what Fire Pig wanted to do: fight some more.


	38. Chapter Thirty Seven

Author's Notes: I conveniently avoided writing out a gym battle. It would've been boring, though. Cause I was so awesome when I battled Yacon for the first time that I killed his team before he could even make any of my team faint.

By the way, I played through the game with the exact same team as Danny had, just for this story. You know?

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Later that day, when it was already dark out and was, therefore, night-time, Cheren, Belle, and Danny finally returned back to the Pokémon Center, the three of them each with bright, shiny badges. Cheren and Belle were both pretty happy about that, but Danny, on the other hand…

"Whoa, what happened to you? You look like crap!" Brendan simply said that in amazement, earning himself a smack from Iris and an elbow in the side from Pearl.

"…Uhhh… what…"

"…Okay, seriously, what happened to her?" Iris asked, pointing at Danny, who looked rather sad, and dejected, and… well, yeah.

"Somehow, her Kurumiru evolved back at the gym."

"Oh, really? So it's a Kurumayu now, right?"

"…Yeah, but she's upset for some reason. It's not like one of her Pokémon hasn't evolved before; she's got Chaoboo, but…"

Iris walked up to Danny, waving a hand in front of her face. "Hey! Why're you looking so down?"

"Tiger… isn't…"

"I thought its name was The Mighty Tiger?"

"…Tiger's… he's…" She sniffed and dramatically began crying. "He's not my baby anymore!"

"…Yeah, I don't know what's up with her."

As Danny cried out enough tears to make a river, Belle patted her back, telling her that everything was okay and that Tiger was still Tiger, and that "It's greeeeaaattt!"

"…Well, if you think about it," Cheren began, fixing his glasses. "You'd called Tiger your baby because it was the newest Pokémon on your team, right?… But you caught that Yuniran, so wouldn't that one be the newest baby?"

Danny instantly recovered, walking over to the Pokémon Center nurse and handing over her Poké Balls.

"Wow. Cheren, how'd you figure _that_ out?"

"Well, simple people have simple thought patterns. That's how."

No one bothered to object to Cheren's explanation; they just went along with it. After all, it was somewhat true… And now Ed would be Danny's new baby because Cheren reminded her of it.

"By the way…" Touya began slowly. "If that Kurumiru can't battle to save its life, how the heck did it evolve?"

"MAGIC."

Touya didn't bother to object, because it was probably true. Probably.

* * *

"Ohhh, all four of you are my babies!" Danny exclaimed happily, hugging all four of her Pokémon, with Ed fainting from excitement and Fire Pig crying manly tears.

Kurumayu, the evolved form of Kurumiru, didn't seem to be spitting anymore bubbles like it had done the entire time as a Kurumiru; maybe that was why Danny had thought of it as her baby. Now it looked like it was hugging itself in a green blanket that covered up its head and entire body. Its face was still yellow, though, and its eyes were slanted, giving it a lazy look.

"And so, that's why…" Danny wiped away imaginary tears. "We're going on a nighttime excursion! Who's with me?"

"BOOYAH, BABY!"

Doc clicked her tongue. "It's dark out, bring a flashlight."

Tiger didn't respond.

…And Ed fainted from excitement yet again.

"…I guess we should invite everyone else too! Let's go!"

Danny and her four Pokémon proceeded off through the Pokémon Center, finding their friends easily, because of Cheren's shining forehead and Iris's weird hair.

"…Danny, you didn't say something about my forehead, did you?" Cheren asked as she approached them, reaching up to touch his forehead.

"Huh? No, why?"

"No reason…"

"Anyways, guys! Let's go… on a nighttime excursion!"

"No."

Danny began making a pouting face. "Why not?"

"It's dangerous outside. You might get mugged."

"By what? A tree?"

Touko simply nodded. "Yep! Damn trees… Pine trees are especially touchy-feely."

Ignoring Brendan's hysterical laughing, Touya began talking, "Maybe you should wait until morning before you go."

"Alright!… Then, we'll go on an early morning expedition! Everyone! 7 A.M.! Don't forgeettttt it!"

"How can we? You're going to wake us up anyways with your stomping around…"

"Wait, expedition? I thought we were going on an excursion!"

* * *

Early that next morning, everyone was up, courtesy of Danny's wake up call… which was just her kicking them all awake. Though she had enough of a brain to not dare do that to Pearl, who simply woke up on her own because of their noise making.

Outside, the sun was just beginning to rise, and it was a little chilly. That didn't bother the army of kid trainers, who left Hodomoe City via the west exit, heading out onto Route 6. It was a grassy route, with lots of trees and aforementioned grass. There was a river heading straight down the route, and bridges were there to connect the pieces of land to each other.

Not many people or Pokémon were awake though, but there were a couple of trainers out… training, and a few bug Pokémon tried to attack the group but failed because they weren't noticed. After all, said bug Pokémon were tiny, and they could easily be squashed by them.

At the very north of the route was a cave. The grassy route turned into rocky terrain, leading up to that cave. But something was blocking the cave entrance.

A yellow spider web.

"What is…" Danny began and reached out to touch the web. "…this?"

"Wait a moment, don't touch that!"

Danny quickly pulled back her hand, afraid that the web had just yelled at her, and they all turned around to see someone coming towards them. Making his way through the tall grass and up the rocky ground was Yacon, the Gym Leader they'd met earlier.

"That's a Denchura's web," he said upon reaching them. He pushed up his cowboy hat to look at the yellow web. "They're electric types, so electricity runs through the webs they make. But what a web like that is doing here… I don't know."

"…So how do we get past it?"

"Well, a human can't get by this kind of web… but a _Pokémon_, on the other hand…"

Yacon quickly let out a Pokémon, a brown, crocodile-like Pokémon standing on its hind legs. It went up to the web and glanced back at Yacon.

Yacon nodded. "Do it! Warvil!"

Warvil nodded, and slammed into the web, breaking it apart like it was just a regular spider web. Of course, the electricity had no effect on the Pokémon… because it was a ground type.

"There we go! The web's been cleared. Now," Tipping his hat at the stunned trainers, Yacon continued, "I'll see you kids again sometime!"

With that, he walked away, leaving them all behind, his Warvil walking along next to him as they went back to Hodomoe City.

Now that the web was cleared, the group entered into the cave, feeling a little tingly as they walked through. Visible blue sparks of electricity ran through the walls, the floors, everywhere.

Suddenly, though, Touya abruptly stopped walking. Being at the front of the group when he stopped, everyone behind him stopped as well, and immediately began questioning as for why he stopped.

"What's wrong, Touya?"

"You hungry or something?"

"Maybe there was some leftover electricity from the web and it fried his brain."

"Wow, Touko, that's a lovely image to think of."

Touya shook his head to each of their questions, and rose a finger to point ahead. "…It's him."

They all looked ahead, over to where Touya was pointing, to see a familiar green haired young man ahead of them, staring off somewhere in the cave…

…N.


	39. Chapter Thirty Eight

Author's Notes: The Dark Trinity are known as the Shadow Triad in the English version, and Giaru is known as Klink. Fukiyose City is Mistralton, I think.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Yes, N was his name, and he'd appeared numerous times in front of them. However, right now, N didn't seem to notice him, so now everyone was discussing on what to do.

"Maybe we should turn back…?"

"Wait a sec, Touya, didn't you say that N said he was, like, the king of Team Plasma?"

"Yeah, but… there's no Team Plasma grunts in sight…"

"What should we… Danny! What're you-"

Danny was being stupid and had quickly started walking over to where N stood. She had her hands tightened into fists, and was probably going to do something that would end badly.

However, she didn't even get anywhere close to him when something suddenly appeared in front of her, stopping her. She stepped back, and something was back there too…

…Two people, dressed in black. They seemed completely identical, with white hair and the same outfits.

"Huh?"

"…"

"Uh… Excuse me?"

"…Come."

"Huh? Whoa, wait a se-"

The two people quickly pulled her over to where N stood, moving faster than Danny could walk. Confused, she looked back and forth between the two people, and then at N, and then back at the two people.

"Lord N, take this."

And then they disappeared into thin air, almost like they'd never been there in the first place. N nodded, fixed his cap, and then looked over at Danny.

"…Yes, thank you," he said. He looked at Danny, who was looking around in confusion. "Oh, you look confused." He stated the obvious. "Those people were the Dark Trinity. Much like Geechisu, they're apart of Team Plasma. But first things first… you got through that Denchura web?"

"Uh, yeah…" Danny answered, looking around in case these "Dark Trinity" people decided to reappear out of nowhere. She spotted the others, peeking out from behind a rock, watching the scene but not showing themselves. She wished they'd come out and show their faces, but they didn't. "Yaco… er, we got through it, yep!"

"By the way, I can see everyone else hiding over there. You can come out now."

Well, there went hiding.

All at once, they came out to stand behind Danny, as if she would be their shield in case N started breathing fire and suddenly turned into a dragon. No, that was just Danny's imagination at work.

"It doesn't matter," N continued with a shake of his head. "Take a look at that electric rock."

Just as Danny was about to ask what an electric rock was, she spotted it; a bright blue rock, right there in the cave, visibly flowing with electricity.

"With the electricity going through it like that, lots of electric Pokémon are attracted by it. Of course, there's no reason that a human would want to come to this place… and if there were no humans here, it would be a perfect place. Anyways." He turned back to them. "Do any of you believe my thoughts yet?"

"That was random."

"Can I kick him yet?"

"Hah!" Brendan suddenly said that as he continued. "All of you, stand back! Let _me_ take care of this!" And so, everyone parted so Brendan could get up face to face with N. Literally, face to face; Brendan had his forehead pressed against N's. Surprisingly, Brendan was just about the same height as him…

"I certainly _don't_ believe in your silly thoughts. In fact, every time I heard you talk, it sounds like I'm listening to a person who really needs to be locked up in a psyche ward. Oh, but you're probably such a sheltered child that you don't _know_ what a psyche ward is."

Brendan had guts, that was for sure. Everyone else stood there in shock at Brendan's blunt/boldness. N, on the other hand, had no expression on his face.

"…I told Geechisu about all of you, and he had the Dark Trinity find out more about you guys. Cheren wants to be stronger, Belle realizes that not everyone can be strong and that she can't do anything about it, Pearl is a crazy person who captures all the Pokémon she sees, Danny has a lot of secrets, Touko's rude and ignorant, and Touya is just the neutral one between all of you crazy people. In fact, Touya seems to be the only one who would possibly have a chance of believing us of Team Plasma's ideals."

"Oh, yeah? Is that so, pretty boy? Here's a little news flash for you: your little 'Team Plasma' grunts? Not only are they complete idiots, but they really don't seem to be doing this whole 'release Pokémon from humans' thing.

"Also, the fact that they all have Pokémon really, _really_ goes against those 'ideals' or 'thoughts' or whatever you call that. And they're complete idiots when it comes to Pokémon; why do you think I defeated them with a single Pokémon and a single move each and every time?"

N didn't say anything to this, though by now he was glaring back at Brendan, who was still up in his face. The others behind Brendan now seemed horrified that they were all being spied on by those Dark Trinity people, and a few of them seemed a little hurt by N's comments on them. Iris was quietly complaining that he said nothing about her.

"So, N, was that your name? What a stupid name! Anyways, what're you gonna do about it, huh? Glare at me, and then run away and cry all the way home?"

"…I think Brendan's snapped," Iris whispered quietly, and everyone else nodded in agreement.

"…I will not battle you," N simply said. "However, it is clear that you oppose my thoughts greatly. And, I must say, you have a lot of guts to get up in my face like this. No one has ever done that to me."

"Oh, really? More proof of that sheltered little world you live in! Hah!"

N said nothing, simply stepped back, fixed his hat, and began walking away without another word.

"B-B-Brendan! That was so cool! You should _totally_ do that more often to people!"

"But, seriously, what just happened? You snapped a little bit there, didn't you?"

"It doesn't matter if I did…" Brendan answered with a shrug. After N had left, they'd all hurried to surround Brendan like he was some kind of movie star. "But, anyways, is the next city beyond this cave? Should we get our stuff before we go?"

"Hah, I already thought ahead of you, little brother!" Pearl announced proudly. "I already got all our stuff together! So let's go onwards, guys! To… the next city whose name I don't know!"

"YEAH!"

However, just as they began progressing through the cave, someone's shouts came from the entrance of the cave. The voice sounded pretty familiar…

"Hey, wait for me, won't you?"

"…That voice just now…" Cheren began.

"It's the Professor!" Belle finished happily.

"Damn! Everyone, run like hell! She's a stalker!"

Danny, Brendan, and Touya promptly began running the rest of the way through the cave, just so they wouldn't have to listen to Professor Araragi, for some reason.

Yes, it was her, out of breath as she caught up to those who waited for her. "Hi, guys! Are you doing well?"

"Yeah, we're doing fine!" Belle answered happily. "But Danny, Brendan, and Touya took off running somewhere though."

"I can see there's lots of electric Pokémon here!" Professor Araragi continued, looking around; much like she had said, there were plenty of electric Pokémon around, from small, yellow spiders to weird ones that looked like two gears stuck together.

"They're probably attracted to the electric rocks around this cave," she said, stating what N had also said just earlier. "Oh, but you're probably wondering what I'm doing here, aren't you?"

"Yeah. You're not, uh, stalking us, are you?"

"No, no, not at all!… Probably! No, I'm kidding, don't look at me like that, I said I was kidding!" Laughing, the professor continued talking, because she is a very chatty woman, "I'm meeting up with my father at Fukiyose City! He's a researcher, just like me; he was my inspiration, you could say!"

She continued talking, "He also asked me to research the Pokémon Giaru, which is a Pokémon that looks like a gear. So I figured I'd do it on the way to Fukiyose!"

"So, in other words…" Belle began and grabbed Araragi's hands. "You want us to be your bodyguards the rest of the way?"

"How the hell did Belle get _that_ out of what the professor said?"

"Oh, you guys would be willing to do that? Thank you, I appreciate it!"

Cheren gasped. "…Crap! I have to follow the other three now too…!"

Cheren ran away from the group as fast as he could, desperate to find Danny, Brendan, and Touya so he wouldn't be lonely as he ran his way through the electric cave.

* * *

"Haha! I'm waaaayyy faster than you guys!"

"It's the electricity here, I'm telling you! That's what's making me slow!"

Danny was apparently the fastest out of the three of them, Brendan, Touya, and herself. She looked back over her shoulder to stick out her tongue at the two boys that were farther back behind her. But much to Danny's surprise, she spotted Touya looking shocked, and he was pointing at something in front of her.

"…Huh?"

She'd crashed into someone while she wasn't looking, but neither Danny nor the person fell down; someone else had grabbed onto them. However, Danny knew that these weren't people she knew, because Brendan and Touya were too slow and… well, there were three people surrounding her. So unless Brendan and Touya had suddenly generated a magical third person, then…

Danny looked up at the three people surrounding her and saw that it was those white haired, ninja people. Now there was a third ninja, but… What'd N called them… Dark Trinity?

"What? You guys again?"

"…"

Danny sighed. "This again? Let me guess, you're going to drag me over to-"

Danny had no time to finish, because they did just that, picking her up and hurrying across a mysterious bridge, oblivious to the fact that now Brendan and Touya were chasing after them like how police officers chase after criminals.

They stopped after crossing the bridge, with Danny still being held over the shoulder of one of them; she was having a fit, shouting and punching his back. One of them looked around and pointed.

"…Go down that staircase. Team Plasma is waiting for you."

Then, they disappeared into thin air, dropping Danny to the ground without a second thought. She crashed down into the dirt, feeling a little tingly as little blue sparks of electricity shot around her.

"Hey, Danny, you okay?" Touya shouted, he and Brendan hurrying down the bridge and finally reaching her. He held out a hand and helped Danny stand up.

"…Yeah. Ow… Those bastards, I'll kill them for dropping me!"

"Did they say anything else, though?"

"Yeah. Ahem… 'Go down this staircase. Team Plasma is waiting for you.' And then they dropped me and disappeared."

"Team Plasma, aye?" Brendan asked, a evil grin crossing his face. "Looks like N did run away, crying all the way home. I'll deal with these guys, you two relax and follow me."

"Roger!"

* * *

...Brendan and N are now mortal enemies. :D


	40. Chapter Thirty Nine

Author's Notes: I wish I had a pretty boy radar. I've only got a lousy gaydar, and it's only accurate for women.

Yeah, I don't know what I'm talking about anymore.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Much like the Dark Trinity people had said, there _were_ Team Plasma grunts down in the lower levels. And, much like Brendan had said, he dealt with them easily. Touya and Danny followed after him as he faced grunt after grunt, and the three of them progressed through the cave, approaching a flight of stairs leading up to a higher level.

They went up those stairs and walked down the cave hall, coming to an intersection with paths going in all four directions.

Brendan tapped his chin for a moment and then pointed at the path heading west. "My pretty boy radar says we should go down this one," he said.

"Why do you have a pretty boy radar?"

"When you're around a lot of pretty boys, you start to grow one naturally. Yeah. So let's go down this path."

Touya and Danny shrugged and just decided to go with Brendan's radar. They went down the west path, where an exit could be seen up ahead, light filtering in through it. And… at the end of the path, by the exit, was N.

Looks like Brendan's radar was correct.

N spotted the three trainers walking towards him and, at the sight of Brendan, became visibly irritated. But only for a moment, because then that irritated expression disappeared like it'd never been there, and N started talking once they were close enough to him.

"Oh… but Touya, I… I thought that what we had was something special!" He covered up his face and began dramatically crying. "You're cheating on me with another man!"

Touya began choking on nothing, his ears turning red. Danny started laughing hysterically and Brendan just shook his head and sighed.

"Now, now, N," Brendan began, "all because I pissed you off earlier doesn't give you the right to go and pair me up with anyone you see. Besides…" He gaily flipped his hair. "I'm straight."

Danny snorted and muttered under her breath, "Like a circle."

Brendan looked back at Danny and snapped, "Excuse me?"

"Oh, Brendan, like we don't see you fixing up your hair in front of the mirror every day," Danny continued.

"That has nothing to do with whether I like girls or boys! Everyone should take care of their hair! It's a necessity for my good looks!"

"Yeah, but you're the first _guy_ I've ever seen do that."

Touya sighed, listening to Danny and Brendan argue. "…You guys are having a really weird conversation…"

"The ladies just _love_ my perfect hair!"

"Ehhh, seriously? Hoenn ladies must have weird taste then… No offense."

"Hah! Danny, you just let me know whenever you want me to fix your hair. I'll gladly do it. I think your hair would be pretty if you braided it overnight…"

"Eh, really? You'll do my hair? Okay! You can braid my hair tonight, if you'd like!"

"Of course!… Hm, you know, I'm really hungry right now. I didn't eat breakfast…"

Before Brendan and Danny could go on with their conversation, though, N interrupted them. "Many different values mix together, and the world becomes gray…"

Brendan sighed. "Oh, great, he's starting in on that crap again…"

"That is unforgivable! I will separate people and Pokémon… into white and black!"

"You racist bastard!"

N didn't listen to Brendan's smart-ass remarks, though. "Only then will Pokémon become perfect beings… they'll exist alongside us, as complete equals! That's my dream! That wish will be granted for sure! Touya!" N abruptly jabbed a finger at Touya, ignoring Brendan and Danny. "You have dreams as well, correct?"

Touya pulled his cap down over his eyes. "Um… sure."

"You have dreams, too… that's magnificent!" N twirled around for no reason and pointed at Touya again. "Then… we shall battle to see what kind of dream that is!"

Touya grimaced, reaching into his pocket for a Poké Ball. Before he could send out a Pokémon, though, Brendan stepped in front of him.

"Sorry, pretty boy. You'll be battling _me_. Just so I can whoop your ass and watch you run away crying."

N seemed unhappy with this, but said, "Fine then. I'll battle you." He took out a Poké Ball and pressed the button, letting out a bluish, rock-like Pokémon that stood on three legs. They'd seen several of those Pokémon as they ran through the cave. "My first Pokémon will be Gantoru."

"Go, Swampert!" Brendan shouted, sending out his Swampert. "Hah! Your Pokémon are no match for my genius Swampert! For he taught all the other Pokémon how to talk! Fear him!"

Swampert flexed his arms like he was a bodybuilder. "FEAR ME."

"Hydro Pump!"

"Iron Defense!"

Swampert moved faster than the rock Pokémon, bracing himself as he opened his mouth and sent out a powerful jet of water. The water crashed into the Gantoru, and it lost its balance and collapsed to its side. When it didn't seem to be moving at all after the attack, N returned it to its Poké Ball and sent out a second Pokémon.

It was a small, yellow spider-like Pokémon. "Bachuru," N began, "use Elec-"

"Earthquake!" Brendan yelled.

Touya gasped. "No! Wait, Brendan! Not in here, we're in a _cave_…!"

But Touya's warning came too late. Swampert slammed his arms down on the ground, and everything began to violently shake. People traversing the cave were probably thinking that it was the end of the world, and that they were going to die alone…

Bachuru had somehow fainted from the ground shaking, and so N returned that Pokémon to its Poké Ball. Touya was shaking Brendan around by his shoulders, and Brendan was laughing.

"You could've killed us! The roof could've caved in!"

"Ahahah, it's okay! Bachuru fainted, so that's what counts, right?"

"No, what counts is the fact that we're still freakin' alive!"

"Ah, but that's the joy of life and challenging, no?" Brendan pointed at N, while Touya was still shaking him around. "Come on, N! Send out your next Pokémon! We all know you're the one who let out that big ass scream when Swampert caused the earthquake."

Swampert decided not to mention that it was he who screamed over the earthquake he himself caused.

"People scream when earthquakes happen," N answered, and sent out another Pokémon to battle. This one looked like two gears stuck together, and both gears had little faces on them. "Giaru, use-"

"Rock Smash!" Brendan rudely interrupted him. Swampert gave a slight nod and ran up to the gear Pokémon, punching it with his fist. The gears collapsed to the ground, just as easily as that.

N made another face as he returned Giaru to its Poké Ball. He quickly sent out a fourth Pokémon, one that looked like a cylinder, silver thing with little spikes sticking out all over. "Tesshiido, please use-"

"Hydro Pump."

Swampert blasted out an endless supply of water at Tesshiido, and much like the other three Pokémon beforehand, it fell to the ground and fainted. Swampert proceeded to pray for the deaths of the four Pokémon, and then returned to sitting there blankly with that awesome Swampert expression of his.

"My friends…" N began. "…were hurt. But… that's a Pokémon battle, isn't it…?"

"What's that?" Brendan giggled like a little girl. "Are you crying?"

"I am _not_ crying!" N snapped. Though if you looked closely, you could see little tears at the corners of his eyes… or maybe that was just Brendan hoping that N really was crying. "Is it impossible for me to win without feeling-"

"HEEEYYY!" a girl's voice shouted, interrupting N's rambling. Danny and Brendan looked behind them in search of the noise, but Touya stared straight ahead, listening to N ramble like a crazy old man.

"And then, I'll become friends with the legendary Pokémon!" N finished dramatically.

Coming towards them was Belle, looking around the cave in search of her friends. Upon spotting Brendan, Danny, and Touya, she started running to catch up with them.

"Hey, guys! Fukiyose City's right up ahead! Just a little-"

And then, Belle tripped over her own feet and crashed to the ground. Face first, of course.

"Wah, Belle? You okay?" Danny was already running over to her before she even asked that, and was now helping Belle stand back up.

Belle had a hand over her face, where she fell, and sniffed as she said, "D-Daannny… I felllll…" Belle suddenly gasped, and started touching the bottom of her nose. "Oh, my god! Danny! Are my brains falling out of my nose?"

Danny leaned forwards, looking at Belle's nose, and then drew back. "Oh my god!"

Belle screamed. "OHMIGOD, WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS ITTTT?"

"…Oh. It's nothing, just the lighting in the cave. Made your nose look funny."

Belle sighed in relief. "Oh, good. Felt like something was coming out of my nose…" She finally stood up, brushing dirt off her skirt. Belle turned around and pointed. "The professor and the others should be coming here anyyyy moment now…"

Sure enough, coming towards them was Professor Araragi, Iris, Touko, Pearl, and Cheren, the latter who'd failed to properly escape and was now being held in a vice grip by Touko and Pearl. Once they reached the group, the professor sighed.

"…Belle has good ears," she simply said. "She heard you three from so far away… oh? Who's this person…?"

"Araragi," N began, not bothering with the professor part at the beginning, "You have no questioning about the relationship between humans and Pokémon. You categorize Pokémon based on silly rules, and think that qualifies as understanding them. Your 'Pokédex' was made for that very idea, and I can't dare to permit such a thing… but what do you think of it?"

Professor Araragi was at a loss for words. "…Oh, my. Looks like you're very much against this, huh? But that's your opinion, and your way of looking at things. Likewise, my wish is my own opinion, and that's my way of looking at things. Getting along with Pokémon… that's for everyone else to decide on their own, isn't it?"

"…So you're saying that it's okay for people to treat Pokémon however they'd like, based on whether they think it's okay or not?… Things like that shall not exist in my world!"

Without another word, N whirled around and walked away, leaving the cave and the group of people behind.

"Well, I wasn't expecting him to agree with me right away…" Professor Araragi said slowly. She shrugged. "He might understand it someday. Now… how about we getting going to Fukiyose City?"

No one had any objections to that, and so they all walked together towards the cave's exit, heading outside…

* * *

Author's Notes: I'll mention this part at the end: Gantoru is Boldore, Tesshiido is Ferroseed, Bachuru is Joltik (OMGITSSOCUTE), and Giaru is Klink. Klinky-klink.


	41. Chapter Forty

Author's Notes: I think this is the longest chapter of this story I've written so far. A lot happens in it. I'll add some author's notes at the end of this chapter mentioning things, so, uh, yeah.

Also, sorry for not updating sooner. I was rewriting this chapter, and I was lacking inspiration, and... yeah.

* * *

Chapter Forty

A steady rain was falling over Fukiyose City as they left the cave, so they naturally headed towards the Pokémon Center first. Brendan bragged about all the possible ways he could continue to piss N off with, and Cheren was muttering under his breath about getting caught by Touko and Pearl and having to put up with the professor's talking.

Belle and Danny sat at the front area of the Pokémon Center, staring out the window and at the falling rain. Iris was off nearby, playing with Kibago, and Pearl, Brendan, Cheren, Touko, and Touya were off who-knows-where.

"…You know…" Belle began. Danny jumped slightly, almost forgetting that Belle had been sitting next to her. "Danny, I was thinking…"

"About what?"

"…About what that N guy said earlier… I really _can't_ do anything about not being strong…" Belle's hand, which had been pressed against the window, tightened up. "…I mean… ever since I was a kid, I sort of knew I wouldn't be a good trainer…"

"What? Belle, don't listen to what that N guy says! He's just crazy. Did you hear him talking to Professor Araragi? Clearly, he's-"

Belle smiled, just a little bit. "Yeah. Maybe he is, but… he was right. When I was little, Touko, Touya, Cheren, and I used to go to a Pokémon trainer's school… even though my parents didn't particularly want me to become a trainer, they still wanted me to learn about things… you know?

"But even back then, when we'd have practice battles and stuff, I was never very good at it. I never remembered any of those type things, or those status things. I was clumsy, and when we got to play with Pokémon, I'd always end up pulling or grabbing one the wrong way, and then the Pokémon would get mad at me.

"So when Professor Araragi left a present box at Touko's house with six Poké Balls, I was really, really happy. I mean, even the professor knew I was kinda ditzy… and stupid. But she still said the four of us could choose a Pokémon that we wanted.

"I even had my first real Pokémon battle that day, against Touya. He won. I battled against Touko and Cheren, but they also won… But I wasn't sad about it, because I still had my very first Pokémon.

"I had to hide her for a bit from my parents. Sometimes, I had to leave her at Touko, Touya, or Cheren's house because I was afraid that they'd find my Pokabu and then they'd take her away, or return her to the professor.

"But then, the day came when you guys all came to my house. That was when my father found out about Pokabu, but I still left the house anyways.

"But even now… after traveling this far… I'm still not a very good trainer. I mean… what can I even do? To get stronger…? To be a better trainer?"

Danny had hopped up from the seat they sat at, and quickly grabbed Belle's hand, pulling her up from her seat. "Then, let's go train!"

"Train? Where?"

"There's the Electric Rock Cave, isn't there? I'm sure there's a route north of here, too? Well, Electric Rock Cave is closer, not to mention it's a cave, so we'll be safe from the rain… let's go!"

Not waiting for Belle's answer, Danny dragged her out of the Pokémon Center. They dashed through the rain, heading towards the nearby cave and going on inside.

She turned back to the confused Belle.

"Come on! Let's train!"

Belle finally seemed to understand exactly what she meant and nodded. She fumbled around for a moment and found a Poké Ball, letting out her Chaoboo. Likewise, Danny let out Fire Pig, and then the two split up, running through the cave, battling wild Pokémon, battling the trainers who wandered around.

Danny was battling a blue haired boy she found, and had just defeated one of his Pokémon, a fluffy white lamb-like Pokémon that he had called "Erufuun", when it happened.

Fire Pig gave a small shudder, and rubbed the back of his head unsurely. In the next second, he was glowing with a white light, and he was changing shape. He got taller, and bigger, and flames began to surround his head and shoulders.

When the light faded away, he was a completely different Pokémon. Pig-like features were still there, however. Fire Pig looked down at himself, glanced at his arms, and said, "Whoa, I evolved! COOL!"

…His voice hadn't changed, however. Which seemed extremely odd, considering he was a big Pokémon with a young-sounding voice. It could be compared to an adult man with a little boy's voice, almost.

Fire Pig turned around, nearly stumbling over his much larger legs. He was still glancing at his body, and flexed his arms. "It's hard to get used to, but hey! It's super cool! Right, Danny?"

Danny seemed just as shocked as he did. She gave a slight nod. "…Right."

"Anyways," the boy they were battling began, getting their attention, "we still aren't done yet. I've got another Pokémon… so, go, Purotoga!" He tossed another Poké Ball, letting out a blue, turtle-like Pokémon. "Ancient Power!"

However, Danny didn't shout out a command for Fire Pig, who stood there awaiting an order. He glanced back at Danny for a moment, but quickly moved out of the way as the turtle Pokémon tossed large rocks at him. One rock caught the side of him, and he stumbled, but he didn't seem particularly hurt. He looked back at Danny again.

"Hey, Danny? Yoohoo, you hear me? Come on, what should I do?"

Danny couldn't speak. She looked down at the ground, tugging on the end of her shirt. Danny glanced up at Fire Pig, who was staring at her expectantly, but looked away once again.

"…Danny?" Fire Pig asked, reaching out to touch Danny's shoulder.

Danny suddenly smacked his hand away, taking a step back. "N-No!"

Fire Pig pulled his hand away, and said nothing. Danny could instantly tell, however, that he was hurt.

"U-um… I can't… um… U-uh…"

"Danny!" Belle's voice called, and Danny glanced off to the side to see the blonde girl running over to her, waving. "Looookkk! Look at what I found!" In Belle's other hand was a tiny, yellow spider-like Pokémon. "I think this one's called Bachuru… Hm?"

Belle paused, looking from Danny to Fire Pig to the turtle Pokémon and then to the boy. "…Oh! You're having a battle? Okay, lemme watch! Go on, continue!"

"Well," the boy began, "we _were_ battling… but this girl here doesn't seem capable of doing so, at least not for the moment. Is something wrong with her?"

Belle looked back at Danny with a frown. "…Huh? Danny? You okay?" She hurried on over to Danny, reaching up to put a hand on her forehead. "Whoa! You're, like, covered in freezing sweat! You okay…? Danny?"

"U-um…" Danny said, her voice cracking a bit. "I… I need to get out of here. Right now. Um… Mr. Trainer, uh, I give up. H-here, let me give you, uh, money… right? You give out money w-w-when you lose, right? Um… Here…" Danny reached into her skirt pocket, walking towards the boy, counting out some coins. "6... 600 Poké. Um…s-sorry. I've, uh… um… bye."

Waving to the boy, Danny briskly walked away from him, passing by Fire Pig and Belle. She hurried around the corner, walking through the cave as fast as she could without running like she was out of her mind. Belle and Fire Pig followed after her, Fire Pig completely silent, and Belle completely confused.

"Danny? Wait for us, Danny!" Belle yelled. She looked up at Fire Pig. "Let's run!"

"…Right," he mumbled. Belle started running after Danny, and Fire Pig followed after her, his footsteps loud on the ground, like stomping, almost.

"Dannny!" Belle shouted as they left the cave, out into the city ahead of them. It was still raining, unfortunately… And Danny didn't seem to be running in the direction of the Pokémon Center. She ran past it, not paying attention to Belle's shouts. "HEY! DANNY?"

Danny stopped abruptly, as two people walked around the corner, talking to each other. It was an old man and a girl who couldn't have been much older than Danny. The girl was holding an umbrella over the old man, and she noticed Danny standing there, getting soaked by the rain. The old man also noticed Danny, and stepped out from underneath the umbrella to walk over to her. Oddly, the rain did not destroy his impossible hair style.

"…Oh?" the old man began, looking at Danny with a vaguely surprised look. "…Could it be… you're Danny, right?"

"…Huh? How do you know my name…?"

"And… you're Belle, right?" he continued. Danny whirled around to see Belle standing there. She'd reached them, really fast. Scarily fast, actually, but Danny could go on about that on another occasion.

"That's right!" Belle answered with a grin. "But… how do you know our names…?"

The old man didn't listen to their logical questions, and instead asked, "Can you hand me your Pokédex? Both of you?"

Danny and Belle glanced at each other unsurely, but nonetheless reached into their bags and took out their Pokédexes, handing them to the old man. He looked at the machines, nodding to himself.

"Hm… Looks like you've both seen 58 species of Pokémon, huh? Oho, and you've seen a Giaru, too! You both must be quite the trainers!"

"…Uh… who are you…?"

"Oh!" The old man jumped as if he hadn't noticed that Belle and Danny were in front of him. He shook his head and continued talking, "I'm sorry, I've forgotten to introduce myself! I'm… Araragi!"

"Huh? Araragi?"

Belle gasped dramatically and looked at Danny in shock/horror. "Danny… could this guy possibly be…?"

Danny nodded, looking grim. "The Araragi from the future who's returned to the past to inform the two of us of his impending gender change?"

"Oh, my god! That's not what I was thinking, but that's a very likely idea!"

The old man, who claimed to be named "Araragi", was looking back and forth at the two girls as they had their typically normal conversation. "What's this about a gender change? No, I'm not from the future, but it was my daughter who gave you your Pokédexes!" He started nodding, and continued rambling like the crazy old man he was: "Seeing that you two are out discovering all kinds of Pokémon makes me very happy! Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to do something to your Pokédexes…"

Not paying attention to the horrified looks on Belle and Danny's faces as he popped open the backs of their Pokédexes, he took out a screwdriver from Arceus-knows-where and started doing something mysterious to the machine. After a minute or so, he put the back part back on, and handed them their Pokédexes. Though how he knew which Pokédex belonged to them was unknown.

"There you go, a power up! It'd be too long to explain how I changed it, so you should just check it out for yourselves…"

Only now did the girl he'd been walking with finally reached them, umbrella in hand. "…Professor, these trainers are…?" the girl asked, glancing at Danny and Belle.

"Oh, sorry, sorry!" Araragi's father waved his hand around as he apologized. "Fuuro, these two are Danny and Belle. They're acquaintances of my daughter! They're journeying throughout the Isshu region to fill up the Pokédex!"

"I see!" the girl said, her mouth wide open in surprise, as if what they were doing was something mysterious. She looked at Belle and Danny with a smile. "So, does that mean you guys are also taking on the gym challenges?"

"More or less," Danny answered with a nod.

"Uh… I kinda am, too, I guess," Belle mumbled.

"Wow, that sounds like fun!"

Araragi's father nodded in random agreement. "You guys should challenge the gym here! The Gym Leader specializes in flying-type Pokémon…" He abruptly dropped the subject and looked over at Fuuro. "Then, Fuuro! I'll be seeing you soon! If anything comes up, I can rely on you!"

Fuuro made some kind of face that Danny thought resembled a frown, but she couldn't really tell since, hey, it was raining. "…Professor, my plane is a cargo plane. It carries luggage, not people! You're talking like Kanto and Sinnoh are just simple flights away."

"Now, now, don't say things like that while you're making such a cute face!"

"Holy cats, this is like borderline sexual harassment!" Danny exclaimed. "…Oh, yeah! Mr. Araragi, Professor Araragi is at the Pokémon Center. She came to pick you up."

"Oh, is that so? In that case, I'll be going to the Pokémon Center! See you all later!" With a wave of his hand, Araragi (MAN VERSION) headed off towards the nearby Pokémon Center, leaving the others behind.

Fuuro sighed, puffing up her cheeks and furrowing her eyebrows. "Jeez! He's too carefree, especially for a known Pokémon professor!… Oh, yeah, in case you were wondering, both he and his daughter are professors." Fuuro sighed and shrugged after her mini-rant, and then looked down at Belle and Danny with a grin on her face. "So! Danny and Belle, you two are taking up the gym challenge, huh? But the Gym Leader isn't there… in case you were wondering."

"Oh, is that so? Too bad…"

Fuuro glanced over her shoulder, looking off towards someplace in the distance. "…Hmm… I think I might've seen something at the top of the Tower of Heaven earlier when I was flying. Oh!" She turned around to face Danny and Belle again. "Sorry! The Tower of Heaven is up ahead, on Route 7. It's a cemetery for Pokémon. That's where I'll be going… in case you were wondering."

Handing them the umbrella, Fuuro gave them a slight wave before walking away, presumably off to the "Tower of Heaven."

"She seems like a really cool person!" Belle randomly began, twirling the umbrella Fuuro gave them. "And she gave us an umbrella! Oh, come on, Fire Pig! Get under the umbrella, too, you shouldn't be getting wet!"

Danny froze. She hadn't realized that Fire Pig was standing behind her the entire time. But she didn't look behind herself, she couldn't.

"Thanks, Belle," Fire Pig responded. "Want me to hold the umbrella instead? Should we just head to the Pokémon Center…?"

"Hmm, I guess so…" Belle mumbled. She handed the umbrella to Fire Pig, who held it up so it covered the three of them. "…Oh, yeah! Danny, what happened back there? You looked like you were gonna pass out!"

"Um, well…" Danny pulled the ends of her sleeves down over her hands, and then gripped the shirt as tightly as she could. "It's just, uh… W-well, you remember how N said back there… that I had a lot of secrets?"

Belle looked confused, but slowly said, "Yeaaahhh…?"

"W-well, uh… this is just another one of those secrets. I'm, uh…" Danny gulped and took in a deep, shaky breath. "It's, uh… a-actually, you know, I think I'm gonna head out to the Tower of Heaven! You guys can head back to the Pokémon Center… Ah, I'm sure it's still raining up ahead, so I don't want Fire Pig to get soaked… Uh, see ya!"

Waving, Danny quickly ran away from them, not caring that it was still raining and that she didn't have an umbrella, or even a coat. Belle was confused, and it was hard to tell what Fire Pig's facial expression was.

"What's wrong with Danny? She's acting as bad as Cheren did when they battled…" Belle said, sticking out her bottom lip, apparently pouting since Danny had managed to avoid her question.

"…I think she's afraid of me."

"…Huh?" Belle looked up at him in surprise. "Afraid? Of you? How come? Why would she be afraid of you now? She wasn't-"

Fire Pig interrupted her before she asked a million more questions, "She didn't start acting like that until after I evolved… so she must be scared of the new way I look…"

"Huuuuhhhh?" Belle asked, her eyes widening even more. "What? Well, when she comes back, we're gonna have a talk with her!… If that's really the reason why."

Fire Pig didn't answer, but he and Belle started walking off towards the Pokémon Center in silence.

* * *

Author's Notes: Okay, time for English names. Professor Araragi's father's English name is Cedric Juniper. He doesn't have a first name in the Japanese games, but whatever. Fuuro is known as Skyla, Erufuun is Whimsicott, Purotoga is Tirtouga, Bachuru is Joltik, Giaru is Klink (I think I mentioned that in the previous chapter), the Tower of Heaven is the Celestial Tower (Gee, I wonder why _that_ was changed... that was sarcasm, by the way), and...

What happened to that Joltik Belle had been holding earlier in the chapter...? I'll leave that to your imagination.

...

She ate it.


	42. Chapter Forty One

Author's Notes: I realize I don't do this enough, but I'd like to thank those of you who've reviewed my story. Specifically Light Sakura and Pokefan102. As to answer a question posted by an anoymous reviewer, who asked where N was and where the relationships were...

I ate the relationships as a snack, and N is currently locked up in my closet in an S/M costume. I hope that was a decent enough answer for you.

Annnnyyyways, here's the next chapter. Hitomoshi's English name is Litwick, and I think that's it for English names. I don't know.

* * *

Chapter Forty-One

The road to the Tower of Heaven was, like Fukiyose City, suffering a downpour. Tall grass, high enough to reach past Danny's shoulders, was everywhere, and there were weird ledges that rose up from the ground and crossed over the ridiculously tall grass.

20 minutes later, after wandering around and getting lost a couple of times, Danny arrived at the Tower of Heaven. It was a tower, of course, hence the name. And it stretched high, high up, to the point where Danny couldn't see the sky.

Danny felt bad about shunning Fire Pig, and that was basically the only thing she was thinking about the entire time she walked there. Now that she was in front of the Tower of Heaven, though, she temporarily forgot about that.

She walked inside, and found that it was really a cemetery, much like Fuuro had said: right in front of her were rows of tombstones. There were a couple of people there, some of them paying their respects to the deceased Pokémon. A spiral staircase was against the wall, twirling up along the wall and up to the next floor. And so, Danny decided to go up these stairs.

Danny was checking her Pokédex as she did so, checking out the "power up" that Professor Araragi's father had updated it with. It showed different "formes" of Pokémon, though Danny couldn't really tell the difference between most of them. Putting the Pokédex away, Danny finally arrived up to the second floor, where there were even more tombstones. There were also trainers and Pokémon there.

Danny suddenly got a brilliant idea to train Ed, and so she reached into her skirt's pocket and took out a Poké Ball, letting out her Yuniran. "Okay, Ed!" she began, crouching down in front of the blob-like Pokémon. "We're gonna do some training!"

"Y-y-y-y-yeeee-" Before Ed could finish his reply, though, he got too excited and fainted into a puddle on the ground.

Danny sighed. Taking another look around the room while she waited for Ed to recover, Danny spotted a Pokémon coming towards them. Though at first, Danny hadn't recognized it as a Pokémon, until she saw that it had a face.

It looked like a chubby candle with a purplish flame, and it was hopping towards Danny and Ed. Sure, Danny should've had a brain enough to tell her that candles didn't hop around, but she didn't.

Danny nudged Ed with her boot. "Come on, Ed! There's a Pokémon coming towards us! We should…" Danny trailed off as the Pokémon got closer to them. Now that she got a good look at it, it was actually kind of cute and… a million nicknames went through Danny's head at the sight of this Pokémon.

"…Ed, we've totally gotta catch this Pokémon! Come on!"

Ed miraculously recovered, popping up from the ground and returning to his original shape. He floated over to hover in front of Danny.

"Okay, Ed, let's use Confusion!" Danny shouted.

By some kind of miracle, Ed actually managed to use that very move. Its body faintly glowed a bluish color, and the candle Pokémon was shoved back by some kind of unseen force. The Pokémon quickly hopped back up, and shot out a flame from the flame on its head. Oddly, though, this flame was bright red, which Danny noticed. The flame hit Ed and exploded, sending tinier flames soaring everywhere.

"Whoa, Ed! You okay?"

"Shiiiiffffftrrryyy…" was Ed's slow response.

Danny frowned, raising an eyebrow. "Shiftry? What the heck was Brendan's Swampert teaching you…?" She shook her head. "Never mind! Ed, use Hidden Power!"

Ed chirped, glowing white for a moment and then shooting off little balls of light at the candle Pokémon. It didn't seem to do much to it, as the Pokémon simply tossed some small flames at Ed. The flames whirled around Ed and started to burn him.

Danny started panicking as Ed squealed and panicked as well. Danny managed to order, "Stop, drop, and roll, Ed! STOP, DROP, AND ROLL!"

Ed did just that, losing his blob-like substance and falling into a puddle on the ground. Sure, he got away from those flames, but…

"Ed?"

Ed didn't respond. Danny sighed and shook her head in response to this. People around them were starting to stare at the three of them, mostly at Danny and Ed.

"Well… I guess it's worth a try now!" Danny took out a mini-sized Poké Ball, pressed the button on it, and it got bigger. Pulling back her arm, Danny tossed the Poké Ball at the candle Pokémon, just as Ed recovered from his puddle state.

The ball sucked in the Pokémon, and then shut and fell to the ground. It rocked back and forth, once, twice, a third time… and then it stopped shaking around. Danny heard a beeping noise and realized her Pokédex was the source of the noise, and took out the Pokédex.

A silhouette of Hitomoshi was on the screen, and now it was uncovering to show the entire Pokémon's appearance. "Hitomoshi, the candle Pokémon, huh?" Danny mumbled. She picked up Hitomoshi's Poké Ball and then pointed the Pokédex at the ball. "Let's see… my Hitomoshi is female, huh?"

Ed looked at Danny excited and then fainted from the announcement of the news of Hitomoshi's gender. Danny sighed, and let out her Hitomoshi, who glanced at the puddle named Ed with a grin on her face. "Okay, Hitomoshi! Both of you can sit on my shoulders!"

Ed bounced back immediately, hopping up with Hitomoshi onto Danny's shoulder. Grinning, Danny started heading towards the next flight of stairs across the room.

* * *

Danny made sure to battle every single trainer she encountered there in the Tower of Heaven, from weirdly dressed people who made their Poké Balls float, to a woman in a nurse's outfit who healed Danny's Pokémon for her after they battled.

Finally, Danny walked up one, last spiral staircase, reaching the very top of the Tower of Heaven.

It was like a completely different world up there.

Orange clouds, tons of them, surrounded the tower, moving slowly. Smaller, wispier clouds were above, racing by quickly.

Fuuro was there, standing in the center of a platform that was up on the roof. Ahead of her was a giant bell. But Danny, Ed, and Hitomoshi were too busy looking at the clouds below and above to really notice that Fuuro was there.

"You came!" Fuuro began, turning around to face Danny. "…What're you doing?"

Danny had run over to the edge of the tower and was looking down over it. Hitomoshi and Ed were in danger of falling off and crashing to their death below, but they didn't seem to care either. Eventually, Danny straightened back up and turned around to look at Fuuro.

"Sorry! I just wanted to look at the clouds and stuff! Eheh…"

Fuuro shook her head. "No, that's okay. The view up here is really nice, isn't it?"

"Yeah! Oh… by the way, did you find that thing you thought you saw?"

"Uh huh! It was a hurt Pokémon, but I gave it some medicine to help it out!" Fuuro randomly giggled then. "I've got really good eyes, 'cause I'm a pilot, so that's probably how I was able to spot the Pokémon. Oh! That's right!"

Fuuro turned back to point at the big bell up ahead. "Whenever I'm feeling down, I like to ring that bell. The Tower of Heaven's bell calls out to the Pokémon's souls, and the tone of the bell depends on the personality of the person ringing it, in case you were wondering. Since you came this far, you should ring that bell!"

Danny seemed to think for a moment, and started walking towards the bell. Hitomoshi and Ed hopped off along the way, and Ed splattered onto the ground, but no one seemed to really notice.

"You know," Danny began as she came to a stop in front of the bell. "When I hear a bell ring, it makes me think that it's lunchtime."

Fuuro looked at Danny like Danny had just said she was actually a man in disguise. "…It makes you think of lunchtime? Why?"

"You know, I'm not really sure…" Danny mumbled. "Well… here goes nothing!"

Seeing as how there were no strings to pull, Danny opted to pushing the bell. That worked good enough, as it swung back and forth, chiming out loudly. Danny turned around to look at her Pokémon while the bell rung: Hitomoshi's flame seemed to be glowing brighter at the sound of the chime, and Ed's eyes went wider than usual. Oddly, Danny's stomach started growling, and Danny realized how hungry she was just by hearing the bell ring.

Fuuro shut her eyes as she listened to the bell, and sighed happily. "Isn't that a wonderful sound? I can tell just from the sound… you're really a kind and powerful person, aren't you, Danny?"

Danny laughed. "No… Not really…" Danny frowned, looking back at the bell that was still swinging. "…I'm really not kind, and I'm really not powerful at all…"

"Hm? What was that?"

Danny shook her head, turning around to face Fuuro again. "It was nothing."

"Oh… okay." Looking at Danny like she was sure that Danny wasn't telling her anything, Fuuro continued talking again, "Well, let me reintroduce myself… I'm Fuuro, the Gym Leader of Fukiyose City! I train flying-type Pokémon!"

Danny's eyes widened. "Wait, you're the Gym Leader?… Wait, I guess that would explain how you knew the Gym Leader wasn't at the gym, because you _are_ the… I'm so stupid."

"It's okay!" Fuuro said with a little laugh. "I'm not the smartest person around either! Anyways, let's head back to Fukiyose City together, 'kay?"

Danny nodded, crouching down next to her Pokémon and letting them jump up on her shoulders. Running after Fuuro, the two girls started heading back down through the Tower of Heaven, all while Danny told Fuuro about anything she could think of at the moment.


	43. Chapter Forty Two

Author's Notes: Kinda random chapter is kinda random. But it explains a couple of things, too, like, uhhhh... things.

By the way, Hitomoshi is a female, but I realize that I've already accidentally referred to her as an it. I tried to go and fix those instances where I may have made a mistake, but I still might've missed some. Oh well.

* * *

Chapter Forty-Two

After parting ways with Fuuro, Danny headed back towards the Pokémon Center. Luckily, the rain had finally stopped, so the walk back to the city wasn't as bad as it probably would've been.

It took Danny a couple of minutes to finally find someone she knew; Cheren, in the cafeteria area of the Pokémon Center. She recognized him from the piece of hair that stuck up in the air, and the reflection of the lights bouncing off his forehead.

"Hi, Cheren."

Cheren didn't look up from where he sat reading a book. "How was the Tower of Heaven?"

"Heavenly."

"Haha, I see what you did there," Cheren responded. He finally looked up from the book. "I heard about you and Fire Pig. What happened back there? Belle doesn't understand, and Fire Pig's convinced that you're terrified of him."

"Oh… uh… it was nothing at all. By the way, I caught a new Pokémon at the Tower of Heaven! Wanna see it?"

Cheren narrowed his eyes at her, but Danny didn't notice. She was turning in circles and looking around for Ed and Hitomoshi, who'd been on her shoulders when she walked into the Pokémon Center, but now were no longer there.

Danny found them nearby: Ed had fainted into a puddle and Hitomoshi was attempting to suck out his soul. The greenish aura was lifting up from Ed's body and going into Hitomoshi, who seemed to be enjoying the soul-sucking…

"Hitomoshi!"

Hitomoshi abruptly stopped, looking up in Danny's direction with a smile on her face, pretending she hadn't been sucking out Ed's soul. Danny held out her hand and Hitomoshi hopped over, hopping up to land perfectly on Danny's hand.

"This is Hitomoshi," Danny said, turning to face Cheren with Hitomoshi in hand. "Hitomoshi, meet Cheren."

Cheren stared at Hitomoshi for a moment and looked back at Danny. "You haven't given it a nickname yet?"

"Well, I wanted to… I mean, I was thinking up a ton of names when I first saw it, but they were all boy-oriented, and Hitomoshi's a girl, and, well… for now, though, she's just Hitomoshi."

Cheren refrained from suggesting a possible nickname, and went back to reading his book. "Anyways, you should probably go find Fire Pig and Belle. I think they're somewhere in the center."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Danny said, turning around and walking away, her hand still held out with Hitomoshi on it. Ed finally recovered as Danny was walking by and floated after her as she walked around the Pokémon Center in search of Fire Pig and Belle.

She wandered through the halls of the center with no luck at finding her friends. Ed was humming some kind of tune terribly off-key, and Hitomoshi was watching him expectantly for some reason.

Danny eventually ran into a Kibago running around the corner, and by some kind of luck, that Kibago just happened to belong to Iris. Danny knew this because she saw Iris running towards them.

"Oh, Danny! There you are! You caught Kibago for me, too? Aw, that's so nice!"

"Yeah, but… why's it running around?"

"Well, I was about to give him a…" Iris glanced around and whispered, "B-A-T-H."

…Kibago didn't seem to catch on to the spelling, and was busy clinging to Danny's leg while staring up at Iris.

"Oh. I see."

Iris nodded. "Pearl said all the Pokémon should get a bath-"

At the word "bath," Kibago instantly took off down the hallway again, squealing loudly as it ran away. Iris sighed and smacked her forehead.

"Darn it, I forgot… Anyways, Danny! Our room is number 610... It's right down this hallway. I've gotta go get Kibago now… KIBAGO, GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"

Danny watched Iris chase after Kibago before heading down the hallway Iris had just come from. She looked at the number plates outside the doors… and found the one labeled 610. Not knowing the meaning of the word manners, Danny simply opened up the door without knocking.

"Do you think I'm fat?" Fire Pig asked.

"Well," Swampert began, "a big boy's gotta eat. Look at me. I'm a big boy too. So I eat a-" He abruptly stopped and looked up at the doorway. "Hi, Danny! You're a big boy, too, right?"

"What're you guys doing?"

Swampert looked back at the group of Pokémon sitting around in a circle on the floor. A box of cards was off to the side, and cards were out on the floor, as well as in the Pokémons' hands. "…Playing an intense card game. Care to join? By the way, what's with the candle on your- HOLYSHITITHASAFACE!"

"Oh…" Danny looked at Hitomoshi, who was still on one of her shoulders. Ed had, at some point, fainted into a puddle on Danny's other shoulder. "This is Hitomoshi."

Hitomoshi hopped off Danny's shoulder and bounced over to where Swampert was shaking like a leaf. He held up his cards in front of his face because he was being dramatic.

Hitomoshi burned the cards up, and Swampert screamed and fainted dramatically.

"Aw, you're so cuuuuteee! Yes, you are! You're so fluffy and-"

Danny turned around just as Belle and Pearl reached the room. Belle had her Chillarmy wrapped up in a towel, and Pearl was holding Ditzy Bird in front of her and staring at it intensely.

"…Ah! Danny!" Belle screamed as she ran into Danny. She hopped back and jabbed a finger at her. "DANNNNYYYYY!"

Pearl held out the wet Mamepato to Danny. "You want this?"

"Uh, no thanks."

"Dannnyyy!" Belle shouted. Belle set down her Chillarmy and grabbed Danny's shoulders, shaking her around. "GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF, MAN!"

"Uhh…"

"Belle," Pearl interrupted, "how about you get a hold of yourself? Anyways, Danny. Belle told every single person on the face of the planet about whatever happened between you and Fire Pig. What happened back there?"

"Uh… well, um…"

"Come on, Fire Pig, listen up," Pearl said, walking over to the group of Pokémon and nudging Fire Pig with her foot. She sat down on the bunk bed and stared at Ditzy Bird, who was still enough to be a statue. "What's up, Danny?"

Danny sighed, brushing back her hair and turning around to face everyone else. "I'm… kinda afraid of certain Pokémon."

Swampert dramatically gasped and sat upright. "NO."

Pearl glared at Swampert. "Hush, young grasshopper."

"It's just… Pokémon that are bigger than me… I'm afraid of them."

"Why?" Touya asked, peeking over from one of the top bunks. Danny jumped in surprise, as did several others in the room, probably because they hadn't noticed that Touya was even there in the room.

Danny sighed again. "It's just… something that happened when I was little. We had a family reunion, and I was playing with my cousins in the forest nearby, and a wild Pokémon attacked us. I… I just couldn't protect my little cousins. I got scared and froze up, and they had to stand up and protect me from the Pokémon instead, while some of the others went to go get our parents. Ever since then, I've been scared of Pokémon that are bigger than me, okay?" Danny huffed, puffing up her cheeks and looking away from them.

"So…" Fire Pig began and stood up. "You weren't afraid of me 'cause I was big and had a fire beard the size of Iris's hair?"

Danny shook her head. She stared at Fire Pig for a moment. "…You know, now that I get a good look at you, you really aren't that much taller than I am. In fact, I think your ears are the only thing that makes you taller. But, Fire Pig, you'll always be my fire pig! Give me a hug, brother!"

Fire Pig and Danny hugged, and Swampert blew his nose and wiped away the tears as he dramatically sobbed.

"Such a touching scene! Gahhh, where's my Brendan? I need a hug from him!"

"Oh, yeah…" Pearl said slowly. "Brendan's still in the bathroom with the other Pokémon, huh? I forgot about him. Danny, let out your Pokémon and let's give them a bath."

Danny nodded, backing away from Fire Pig and sending out her other Pokémon, Doc and Tiger. Ed had remained silent on the floor after having slid off Danny's shoulder, but now he bounced back like he'd never been unconscious in the first place.

"Come on, Fire Pig," Pearl said, standing up and patting his shoulder. "You're getting a bath, too."

"What? I can't… uh, what I mean to say is, I'm a fire-type! I don't do well in water."

"Don't worry. We won't shove you into a tub of water."

"No, it's just that… I, uh… I might drown."

Pearl started laughing loudly and stopped just as suddenly as she'd started. "…That was funny. Now, come on. Swampert, get your ass with us, too."

"I can just wash myself, that's okay."

"Why don't you want to come? You can't even use the same hilarious excuses as Fire Pig."

"It's just…" Swampert glanced at Hitomoshi, who was sitting on Danny's shoulder and staring at him with a hungry grin. Though that may've been his imagination at work. Swampert stood up and leaned over to Pearl, whispering, "I don't like the way that Hitomoshi is eyeing me."

Pearl looked at Hitomoshi, and whispered back, "You're an idiot. It's a harmless candle that likes to smile. Now…" She reached down and grabbed Swampert's hand, leading him out of the room with everyone else. "Let's get going before Brendan decides to run away from the bathroom. By the way, Danny, did you see Iris on your way here?"

Danny nodded as they walked down the hall. "Yeah. Kibago ran into me and was clinging to my leg while Iris explained that you guys were giving everyone a bath. But then she said bath and Kibago ran off again. She's probably still chasing it around the place."

"You know, ever since I evolved," Fire Pig began, walking farther back with all of the other Pokémon, "I've been feeling kinda dizzy. I've already tripped, like, a million times."

Doc snorted. "You haven't tripped a million times. Use more reasonable numbers."

Fire Pig sighed. "Whatever!… but man, is it hot in here or is it just me?"

"I'm sorry," Swampert said, looking down at the ground. "I'll leave the room then."

"What?"

"It's because I'm here that you're feeling so hot! I'm so sorry, blood brother!"

Doc started clicking her tongue, shaking her head. "My, my. Fire Pig, you must be pregnant. Congratulations."

"What?" Swampert whirled around to face Fire Pig. "I thought we were brothers! How can you be pregnant?… My god, you're cheating on me!"

"Wait, I'm a guy! I can't be pregnant!"

Doc gasped. "What? You're a guy? Then it must be worse than we thought. You might be getting ready to die. Danny, can you pass us Tiger for a moment?"

Danny stopped walking, turning around to hand over the Kurumayu she was holding in her arms. Tiger stared up at Fire Pig for a long, long moment, and then shuffled over to Doc, mumbling incomprehensible things to her.

Doc nodded. "Tiger says you're not going to die. He's says you're too loud and you have a high metabolism."

"What the heck does that even mean?"

"Guys," Pearl interrupted, staring at the group of them like they were full of crazy, rambling drunks. "Can we get going? I know you're trying to stall so you don't have to take a bath."

"Right, right!"

"What's a metabolism?" Fire Pig whispered to Swampert.

"I don't know, but is that Hitomoshi looking at us with a hungry look, or is it just me?"

Together, Fire Pig and Swampert looked up ahead at where Hitomoshi sat on Danny's shoulder still. She was still turned around, staring at them with a grin on her face.

"Good lord, I think you're right."

"Do you think it has a high metabolism like you, Fire Pig?"

"I hope not."


	44. Chapter Forty Three VS Fuuro

Author's Notes: Okay, English name time. Kokoromori's name is Swoobat, Kenhorou is Unfezant, and Swanna's the only one who's name is the same. The move Acrobat is known as Acrobatics.

Oh, and there's one part I messed up on, I think. Fuuro's Unfezant _doesn't_ know Aerial Ace. In fact, it can't learn it by level up at all, but it does learn it via TM. I totally screwed up on that part. Oops.

* * *

Chapter Forty-Three

The next day, Danny, Belle, and Cheren all headed to the Fukiyose Gym. The gym itself was located in the north-west area of the city, where an airport took up most of the left side of the city. Airplanes were all over the runway, though none of them were moving. Despite the fact that, hey, it was an airplane runway, people were wandering along it, taking a look at the planes or just standing there meaninglessly.

"What the… don't these people realize that it's dangerous to be standing around there…?" Cheren muttered. He looked over to his side, where Danny and Belle were. "Guys, make sure you look before you cross the-"

Cheren's words were meaningless, because Belle and Danny were already halfway down the runway, squealing like a bunch of little kids and splashing in the puddles left from the thunderstorm the night before.

"Guys! Are you stupid?" Cheren froze, and then realized the answer to his own question was "yes." He sighed and started running after them as they headed towards a warehouse-like building at the very end of the runway. "Wait for me!"

Belle and Danny didn't seem to notice that Cheren wasn't with them until they reached the entrance of the gym. They finally noticed him running after them, though, and because they were _such _nice people, they decided to wait for him.

"Guys, you shouldn't have just run across the runway like that."

"Huh? Why not?"

"What if a plane came out of the sky and crushed you?"

Cheren immediately realized how stupid that sounded and smacked his forehead, shaking his head. Belle and Danny tried not to laugh at Cheren's statement, but they weren't very good at hiding their little giggles.

"Cheren, I thought you were smart, but that was a kinda stupid line…" Danny managed to say, and then started laughing loudly. "Ahahah! I'm sorry, but… I think we'd see a plane coming out of the sky first and be able to get out of the way."

"Okay, I get it. That was a stupid thing to say. Can we just go on into the gym? This _is_ the gym, right?"

Belle looked up at the warehouse building. There was a Poké Ball symbol right above the doorway, and a little sign was nearby that said "Fukiyose City Pokémon Gym. Leader: Fuuro. The Heaven's Flying-High Girl."

"I think so. I mean, if that sign is anything to go by…"

"Whatever. Let's just get going, okay?"

"You're unusually impatient today, Cheren…" Belle said as Cheren started pushing Danny and Belle through the wide open door of the gym.

Inside, there were lots of metal platforms, some that rose high up, and others that were lower down. There were also cannons situated all around the gym. A lot of cannons, actually. Rings hung from the ceiling, all kinds of colored rings of various sizes.

The three of them walked down the wide hall that was lined by those steel platforms. Up ahead of them was a cannon…

"I'll go first," Cheren offered, because he's such a gentleman.

Danny nodded. "Ladies first, of course!"

Cheren started turning red. "Leave me alone," he grumbled, walking up to the cannon. One part of it, where he stood in front of, slid open, and Cheren walked inside. The front part slid down, and the cannon moved, angling down a bit.

"Cheren's so cute when he's shy, isn't he?"

"It's fun teasing him 'cause of that.~"

The cannon suddenly shot Cheren out, accompanied by a loud bang, and Cheren went flying through the gym, screaming like the manly man he is.

And, of course, Belle and Danny started laughing hysterically.

"Ahahah, did you hear him scream?"

"Yeah, how couldn't you? Heehee, I've never heard Cheren scream like _that_ before!"

Cheren had landed on another spot of the gym, and was glad Belle and Danny couldn't see how red he was. Not to mention that their laughing was so loud that everyone in the gym probably heard them. Hell, everyone in Fukiyose City could probably hear them.

A minute or so later, after Danny and Belle finished their hysteric laughing, they got in the cannon, too, and joined Cheren at the same place he was. Another cannon was nearby, but Cheren hadn't gotten in it yet.

Belle and Danny took one look at Cheren, who stared at them blankly, and then they started laughing again.

"Jeez, it's not that funny!" Cheren snapped, whirling around and practically stomping over to the next cannon. Like before, it opened up, Cheren got inside, the cannon moved a bit, and shot Cheren out. This time, he managed to not scream, but Belle and Danny were still laughing their asses off.

Once they managed to calm down, though, they split up, going into the cannons and getting shot around the gym. Some of the cannons, however, shot them back to the entrance, which was probably apart of the gym's puzzle.

Mysteriously, Danny had no trouble picking out the right cannons. Which only served to irritate Cheren, who kept getting sent back to the entrance with Belle.

"How is she able to pick the right cannons?"

"I dunno. Maybe she's just extra lucky?"

And then, Belle pushed Cheren into the cannon they were in front of. Needless to say, this took Cheren by surprise, and he screamed again when the cannon shot him out. Belle tried not to laugh, but failed.

The gym trainers who worked there were mostly pilots, Danny assumed, based on their outfits. She battled them using Ed, whose Hidden Power move seemed to work well against their flying-type Pokémon. Danny couldn't seem to figure out why, though.

"'Kay, Ed, here we go!" Danny said, walking into another cannon. Ed was inside her shirt, peeking out excitedly. Danny silently hoped he wouldn't faint into a puddle as the cannon moved around and shot them out.

"WHEEEEEE!"

Flying across the gym and through a red hoop, Danny abruptly realized that she wasn't going to land on the ground. She slammed into the wall instead, and slowly slid down it before falling to the ground. There was no need to worry about Ed fainting into a puddle, because he'd been squished into a pancake instead.

Managing to push herself up, Danny headed over to the next cannon. Her arms and legs hurt from getting shot out of all of these cannons. She was probably going to have lots of bruises tomorrow. Stepping into the next cannon, Danny felt the cannon move and shoot her out again, hoping that she wouldn't slam into another wall.

This time, however, she simply landed on the ground. Though it still hurt.

"Welcome to the Fukiyose Gym, Miss Challenger!"

Danny looked up in surprise, having not noticed that someone was standing there. She blinked a couple of times, and then realized it was Fuuro. "Oh! Fuuro!"

"Did you have fun with the cannons?" Fuuro asked cheerfully. "I set them up myself!"

"I think I broke a couple bones in my body…"

"Ahahah, sorry, sorry! Oh, that reminds me! A while ago, Kamitsure came to my gym so we could have a battle, and she was going through the cannons, and she slammed into the wall like you did! And then, Kamitsure got a nosebleed, but she told me it was fine and stuck some tissues up her nose. But the entire time we were battling, her voice sounded funny from the tissues in her nose, and every time she called out a command, her voice was all… uh, you know, it sounded funny! It was hilarious!"

Danny nodded. "I would've paid to hear Kamitsure's voice sound like that."

"It really was funny! Oh, but that's right! We should get on with our own battle! Sorry, didn't mean to waste your time with a story…"

Danny shook her head, and Ed finally fell out of her shirt, splattering onto the ground. "Oh… I guess Ed isn't going to be battling."

"…Whoa," Fuuro mumbled, staring down at the pancake Ed. "What happened to it?"

"Well, he was in my shirt when we slammed into the wall…" Danny answered. She reached into her skirt pocket and returned Ed to his Poké Ball, and then took a couple of steps back, another Poké Ball in hand. "Let's get start! Fire Pig, I choose you!"

Fuuro sent out her own Pokémon as well. "Kokoromori, let's go!" she shouted as a weird, furry bat-like Pokémon with black wings. Its nose was pink and heart-shaped, and a smaller, black heart was in the middle of its nose. "Use Acrobat!"

"Fire Pig! Heat Stamp!"

Kokoromori was faster than Fire Pig, moving quickly over to the large, pig Pokémon. It wrapped its tail around one of Fire Pig's arm, swung around and kicked Fire Pig in the face. It whirled around through the air, back to Fuuro, while Fire Pig stumbled back.

"Pshaw, I can be an acrobat, too! Just watch!" True to his word, Fire Pig attempted to be as acrobatic as a heavy and large fire pig could be. He lacked the ability he previously had to twirl in the air while he burst in flames, which he found out the hard way.

He tried jumping in the air while covering himself in flames, but he was brought down quickly by the forces of gravity, and stumbled forwards a bit before tripping on the ground and slamming on top of Kokoromori, who apparently lacked the brain to get out of the way of the flaming, clumsy pig.

The flames crackled and sputtered as Fire Pig lay on top of Kokoromori, and finally the flames went out.

"Man, I'm not as graceful as I used to be," Fire Pig grunted, pushing himself up from the ground, Kokoromori stuck to his chest. It flopped off and fell to the ground, and then Fire Pig noticed that he'd landed on it. "Oh… hey, man, I'm sorry! Didn't see you there! Hey, you okay? Danny, I killed a Pokémon, I think."

"K-Kokoromori? You okay?"

Fuuro ran over to them and picked up the bat-ish Pokémon in her arms. "Oh… she's just unconscious. No need to worry… in case you were wondering."

"Oh, good, I didn't kill it… wait, it's a lady? Is it single, 'cause I'm totally single right n-"

"Fire Pig…" Danny said.

Fire Pig sighed. "What? Can't a pig look for love? Man, Swampert and I'll forever be single, lonely men in this world of-"

Fuuro returned Kokoromori to its Poké Ball, hopping back a bit before sending out her next Pokémon: a gray and brown bird-like Pokémon, that sort of looked like a pigeon on steroids. Or maybe that was just Danny's imagination.

"Kenhorou, use Aerial Ace!"

"Fire Pig, Heat Stamp!"

Kenhorou shot forwards, faster than Fire Pig could see, and raked at Fire Pig's side, down first, and then up. Fire Pig opted to go ahead and sit down on Kenhorou before it could fly away, and quickly covered himself in flames and sat down on Kenhorou, who was just starting to fly away. It flapped around underneath Fire Pig, and in a couple of seconds, it wings flopped to the ground.

Fire Pig took this as a sign to get up, and he did. Kenhorou was unconscious.

"Wah! This is bad… how're you even doing that?" Fuuro asked, taking out Kenhorou's Poké Ball and returning it. "Well, here goes nothing… Swanna, I choose you!" Tossing another Poké Ball, Fuuro let out a white and blue swan-like Pokémon. It stretched out its white wings gracefully.

"This is my last Pokémon, in case you were wondering. But I'm not giving up! Swanna, use Aqua Ring!"

"Nitro Charge!"

Swanna summoned up several rings of water, and the rings surrounded Swanna's body. Fire Pig stomped on the ground a couple of times, and flames ignited across his body, and then he charged towards Swanna, slamming into it as hard as he could.

Somehow still managing to look graceful, Swanna skidded back a bit. The rings of water were still around its body, and now it seemed to be healing the singed feathers from Fire Pig's attack.

"Okay, now, let's use Aerial Ace!"

"Uh… Fire Pig, return!" Danny shouted, suddenly returning Fire Pig to his Poké Ball. However, Swanna was already launching itself towards where Fire Pig had been, and now changed its attack path towards Danny. "Doc! Go!"

In a second, Danny's Tabunne came out of her Poké Ball. Swanna sliced at Doc with its feet, but Doc didn't seem to be hurt too much.

"Secret Power!" Danny yelled.

"Let's use Aerial Ace again!"

As Swanna slashed out at Doc again, Doc pulled back both of her arms and punched the attacking Swanna. Swanna flew backwards, skidding its feet along the ground to stop itself.

Before Danny could shout out another attack, though, Doc was already running towards Swanna, and started smacking the swan Pokémon back and forth.

"Uh, Doc…?"

"How dare you slash at me like that? You use your beautiful looks to make me think that you're a gentle, graceful Pokémon, and yet you fight like a savage monkey!"

"…Doc…"

"I should pull out your feathers, one by one! And then, I'll marinate you, put you in the oven, and make you into a-"

"DOC!"

Doc gasped, whirling around to face her trainer with a smile on her face. She walked away from Swanna, who she'd effectively smacked into unconscious, and smiled up at Danny. "Yes?"

"Wah, wah! Swanna, are you okay?"

"Doc… you have some anger management issues."

Fuuro had returned Swanna to its Poké Ball and walked over to Danny and Doc. "Eheh, looks like Swanna's unconscious… You really are a strong trainer, just like I thought! You and your Pokémon are super strong! It looked like your Pokémon were really having fun, too!"

"I wouldn't say that Doc was having fun, though…" Danny mumbled. "She was threatening to cook your Swanna…"

"It's been a while since I've had a fun battle like that! Anyways, as per league rules…" Fuuro reached into the bag she had tied around her leg, taking out a wing-like badge and handing it to Danny. "That's called the Jet Badge… in case you were wondering!"

And so, Danny and Fuuro started talking about anything and everything, while Doc clicked her tongue at anything Danny said. At some point, Cheren finally arrived up on the platform they were at, his glasses falling off his face and bent at an odd angle.

Danny decided to leave then, so Cheren and Fuuro could have their battle in peace. Returning Doc to her Poké Ball, Danny stepped into a cannon that was behind Fuuro, and was shot all the way back to the entrance.

"In order to understand one another, trainers battle each other…"

Danny shrieked as she left the gym, whirling around to see that, of all people, N was standing there outside the gym. "Arceus, you're a freaking creeper!"

"And they hurt their Pokémon in the process. Am I the only one who finds that cruel?"

"Darn it, I knew I should've waited for Cheren to finish his battle…"

"Anyways, let me talk to your Pokémon," N abruptly said, taking a step towards her.

Naturally, Danny stepped back a bit. "What?"

"Ever since I was born, I could talk to Pokémon," N began, "But, of course, I could talk to humans too, if I'd like. It's just that Pokémon never tell lies." N held out his hand. "Can I talk to your lead Pokémon? No need to let it out; just hand me its Poké Ball."

Danny frowned, seeming to think about it for a moment. Then she reached into her skirt pocket and hand N Fire Pig's Poké Ball. N stared at it for a moment, and started talking again.

"Hmm… I see. Danny, where are you from?"

"Huh? Snowpoint City, in Sinnoh."

"I see… what kind of trainer did you learn from?"

Confused as to what the questioning was for, Danny answered, "I learnt how to battle and stuff from my uncle…" And then, she added proudly, "My uncle's a Gym Leader in another region!"

"I see… and why did you come to the Isshu region?"

"To stalk my cousin's friends. Though now I'm just journeying around and challenging the Isshu League with my friends…"

N nodded. "Okay. Got it. So, Enbuoh… oh, your name's Fire Pig? Okay, then, Fire Pig. What kind of trainer is Danny to you?…Hmm… I see…" N muttered quietly as he stared at the Poké Ball intently, and nodded a couple of times. Eventually, he handed Danny the Poké Ball back.

"Your Enbuoh seems to really trust you. That's good! If only all trainers and Pokémon got along as well as you two do… but unfortunately, many trainers, if not most, just use Pokémon without bothering to befriend them, or to listen to them…"

N stepped back from Danny, no longer invading her personal space. "Geechisu is having Team Plasma look for two special stones… the Light Stone and the Dark Stone are their names. Inside of these stones lie two, slumbering legendary Pokémon. It's said that that whoever can awaken these Pokémon will become a hero.

"I wish to awaken one of these legendary Pokémon, and become its friend. Then, everyone will see me as a hero…"

N paused, turning to look off in the distance. He shook his head a bit and continued talking, "My dream is to make this world one without disputing or strife. Of course, even if we try to use force to make them change, there will people who resist. And when people resist, the only ones who really end up hurt are the Pokémon that they use… Danny. You understand that, don't you?"

Danny didn't answer, but she just stared at N.

"Pokémon aren't tools for people to use. But, even so… it pains me a little that, in the end, we'll still have to separate trainers like you who get along with their Pokémon. But it's necessary… no one can own Pokémon if we intend to become equal with them…"

N abruptly started walking away without another word, fixing his cap as he left.

And as Danny stood there, watching N walk away, she couldn't help but feel that maybe what N was trying to do wasn't really all that bad.

* * *

Author's Notes: N is such a creeper. :D

And this is one reaaaalllly long chapter. I think it's the longest yet. Maybe... I dunno.


	45. Chapter Forty Four

Author's Notes: I guess this would be considered a filler-ish chapter... and I thought that I'd already posted this, but I guess not.

Okay, English names, English names... Sekka City is Iccirus City, and Neji Mountain is, actually, Twist Mountain. So Touya's random Japanese lesson was correct.

* * *

Chapter Forty-Four

"So, Touko, what's the next city ahead of Fukiyose?" Pearl asked, sitting at a table with Touko. Touko had a map out, though where in the world she got the map in the first place is unknown.

"The map says Sekka City," Touko answered. She tapped her finger over the spot on the map labeled as Sekka City. "But I think we need to go through Neji Mountain first…"

"Neji Mountain, huh…?" Pearl seemed to think for a moment, and then said, "Doesn't neji mean, like, an onion? Onion Mountain?"

"Actually, that's negi. Neji has a variety of meanings, like a wrench, or to twist. So, judging by the usage of it, it'd probably be more like Twist Mountain."

"Oh, I see…" Pearl mumbled. She blinked a couple of times, looked up at Touko, and then glanced to her side…

"HOLY SHIT, TOUYA! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE?"

Touya sighed. "…I've been here for a while. Seriously, what can I do to make you guys notice me?"

The two girls seemed to think for a moment. "I think you should dress in bright orange, like a crossing guard or something," Touko suggested.

"We should cover you with reflective tape, so we'll be able to see you when the light bounces off your awesome reflective body."

"Where can we get reflective tape anyways?"

"Um… Home Depot?"

"I'm not wearing reflective tape," Touya simply answered, sipping out of the mysterious drink he had in hand.

"Will you wear bright, gaudy colors?"

"…If you'll notice me, then maybe."

"Hmm… maybe you should, like, exchange hats with Belle. You can wear that bright green hat of hers. Maybe that'll help."

Touya didn't respond, and just continued drinking his drink. Pearl and Touko turned back to the map they had spread out on the table.

"After we're finished with Sekka City… then we should head to Souryuu City, over here?"

"Yeah, I think so. But what's this Cylinder Bridge…?"

"A… cylinder bridge, maybe?"

"Oh, my god, that sounds like fun."

Pearl mumbled something, looking up and around. She spotted Danny nearby, standing there with a really dumb look on her face. "…What's Danny doing?"

"Clearly, she's standing there looking like an idiot," Touya muttered. One of the two girls, though he was betting it was Touko, intentionally stomped on his foot.

Pearl leaned over her chair, cupped her hands over her mouth, and shouted, "HEYYYY, DANNNY!"

Danny didn't respond, and so Pearl got up from her seat and walked over to Danny. She waved her hand in front of her face, but Danny didn't respond. Pearl walked back to the table.

"I think she's broken."

"She's been standing there for, like, an hour, hasn't she?"

"She'll probably return to normal once Belle gets here," Pearl muttered. "…Oh! There's an idea! Touya, go cheer Danny up!"

Touya rolled his eyes. "That's right. Let me get out my magic freaking wand and wave it around, and then she'll return back to normal."

His sarcastic comment was completely lost on Pearl and Touko, unfortunately.

"Whoa… Touya, you're a magician? Why didn't you tell us that sooner? That's awesome!"

Touya just stared at Pearl, who was leaning closer to him and invading his personal space. Before she could get close enough to stare into his soul, though, Touya got up and quickly walked over to Danny.

"Wazzup, Danny?"

"…I…"

"Something the matter?"

"I… ran into N when I left the gym earlier…"

"WHAT?" Pearl screeched at the top of her lungs. Apparently, she and Touko had opted to follow after Touya, but Touya didn't seem to acknowledge their existence.

"What was he doing there?"

"Being a creeper…"

Touya snorted and started coughing in his hand, trying not to laugh his ass off at Danny's term for N. "Ahem… and what else?"

"He talked to me… and then…"

"…And then…?"

"After he left, I thought, just for a moment, that maybe what he's doing wasn't that bad."

"…Oh."

Touya turned around to face Pearl and Touko, who were just standing there silently. "…Wait here, you guys," he said, already walking away. "I've got a cure for this."

Pearl sighed. "Danny, are you seriously thinking that? He's _obviously_ the bad guy here! We've seen what these guys do! They steal Pokémon from little kids, and they kick wild Munna for Dream Smoke! And they harass old men!"

Danny didn't answer her. Instead, she'd returned to standing there with that dumb looking look on her face. Pearl waved her hands in front of her face, but Danny didn't even blink.

Touya finally returned with a box in hand. "Okay, Touko and Pearl. Watch and learn… this is how you cheer her up," he said, and held out the box to Danny. "Here, Danny! Some snacks that I bought at the market in Hodomoe!"

Pearl snorted loudly. "Like that's gonna work-"

Danny instantly bounced back to her usual, happy self, reaching inside the box and taking out a chocolate, nibbling on it like a hamster.

"My god, she's even more simple-minded than I thought."

"Touya, how did you even know that was gonna work…?"

All of a sudden, Iris stormed into the Pokémon Center, screeching like a wild Pokémon. Needless to say, everyone else there turned around to look at the screeching child stomping into the center.

"Oh, look. Iris's here. Screeching like a monkey."

"PEARL!" Iris shrieked, coming to a stop next to the four of them. She jabbed her finger in Pearl's face. "I HATE YOUR BROTHER!"

"…Well, that's nothing new. What'd he do today, Iris?"

"Did he ask what your height was?" Touya suggested. Iris whirled towards him, pulling back her arm and then attempting to punch him. Luckily, Touya had a brain, and stepped to the side. Iris's punch managed to smack his hat off his head, however, and it fell to the ground. "Ooh, someone's angry!"

"Oh, let me guess!" Pearl happily began. "He asked how old you were?"

Iris tried to kick Pearl in response to this, but Pearl laughed like a crazy old woman and gaily skipped out of reach of her.

"He asked why you wear the same shoe size he did when he was 4 years old?" Touko suggested. Unfortunately, Touko wasn't quick like Pearl and Touya, and Iris kicked her in the leg. "ARRRGGHH, I DESERVED THAT."

"Iris," Danny said. Iris spun around to stare at her angrily, awaiting Danny's remark about what Brendan could've possibly said to anger her. "Want some chocolate?" she asked, holding out the half eaten chocolate she was eating.

Iris snatched the chocolate out of her hand and shoved the entire thing in her mouth, chewing it angrily.

"I guess Iris is simpleminded like Danny, huh?" Pearl whispered. Luckily, Iris didn't hear her.

Eventually, Iris calmed down enough to not attack anyone who talked to her, and so Pearl asked, "Seriously, though, what'd Brendan say that pissed you off so much?"

Iris sighed, scratching the side of her head. "…He asked me if I had anyone special in my life."

Pearl, Touko, Touya, and Danny just stared at Iris.

"…You got angry over that question?"

"Yeah, so? What about it?"

And then, Pearl started laughing hysterically.

"Actually, that's kinda cute, if you think about it," Touko said and grinned. "Iris, you must've gotten angry because you like Brendan, don't you?"

Iris swung her leg up high, hitting Touko upside the head. Touko fell down to the floor dramatically, and Pearl continued laughing.

"It's not _that_ funny, is it? Stop laughing!"

"Did he say he had a girlfriend and that that's what pissed you off?" Touko suggested, pushing her up from the ground.

"NO! And why would I get pissed off if he had a girlfriend, huh?"

"Man, it's fun making you mad."

Iris abruptly stopped talking, instead deciding to pout. Puffing out her cheeks and crossing her arms across her chest, Iris just glowered at Touko and the still laughing Pearl.

And so, Pearl laughed for the next 10 minutes, until Cheren, Brendan, and Belle came into the Pokémon Center. While Cheren and Belle went to have their Pokémon healed, Brendan casually walked over to them and stepped on Pearl's side as she lay on the ground laughing.

That day, Pearl killed Brendan 5 times in a row.


	46. Chapter Forty Five

Chapter Forty-Five

Later on that day, after Touya abruptly decided he wanted to challenge the Fukiyose Gym (and mysteriously won the badge in a shorter time period than Belle, Danny, or Cheren,) the eight trainers left Fukiyose City, heading through the city and out through the north exit.

Route 7 had lots of tall grass, and unlike the time where Danny had headed through it, it wasn't rainy. Blue sky, shining sun, there was no sign of a thunderstorm at the moment.

"Hey, guys, look!" Pearl yelled. She ran over to a thin, rock path that rose up where the tall grass began. The path went up and above the grass, heading around it to the other end of the path of grass.

Pearl ran up the little path and abruptly did a handstand. "I'm a circus performe-"

She never got to finish her sentence. Apparently, Pearl's balance wasn't the greatest thing, and she tipped over and fell down into the grass with a thunk noise.

"Yay, she's gone!" Brendan cheered. "Let's celebraaattee!"

"I can hear you, you know," Pearl's voice responded from within the grass.

"Oh, snicker-doodles."

Touya started laughing for some reason, probably because of Brendan's usage of the word "snicker-doodle."

"Anyways, after I beat Ms. Fuuro," Cheren randomly began, walking up onto the path and walking across it carefully. Everyone else, minus Pearl, followed him up there, and unlike Pearl, they weren't being showoffs and doing handstands. "She mentioned that while she flew over Neji Mountain, she thought she saw some Team Plasma people there."

"Ooh! I hope N'll be there, so I can annoy the hell out of him!"

"Speaking of N, he _was_ here earlier," Touya said. "He talked with Danny as soon as she left the gym."

"What? N was at the Fukiyose Gym?" Cheren whirled around to try and face his friends, and then fell off the path, crashing to the grass below. "…Ow."

"You okay, Cheren?"

"Yeah… eh? Something just touched my arm…"

"Maybe it's a Pokémon?"

Cheren shot up from the grass, looking around in a hurry. Of course, it was too hard to see what was _in_ the grass, but Cheren didn't really care at this point.

"I… I don't think it was a Pokémon."

"Riiigghtt." Brendan rolled his eyes. "It's a zombie."

"C-can one of you pull me back up there? Please?"

However, the six of them shook their heads, opting to stand there and watch Cheren freak out about something in the grass.

"Oh, come on! Uh… Danny? Pull me up there?"

Danny seemed to consider pulling him up there, but before she could answer him, Brendan spoke up, "Danny, don't listen to him. If you help him up, whatever's down there might pull you two back down!"

"Ah… that's scary…"

"OH, COME ON? Ah, ah! Something's grabbing my leg! H-helllpppp!"

Pearl shot out of the grass like a jack-in-the-box. "PEEK-A-BOO!"

Cheren apparently tried to scream, but all that came out was a squeaky hiss, and then he fell back into the grass. Pearl, as did the other trainers, stared down at Cheren, who was unconscious.

"Oops," Pearl simply said.

"Yeah, oops. Old hag."

Pearl surprisingly didn't kill Brendan for that comment, and instead picked Cheren up and held him in her arms like he was her bride. No, wait... "…Anywayyyssss, let's go?"

No one bothered to object, and so they continued down the route. Hopping off the ledge where it ended, they passed a single house. Up ahead, the road angled upwards a bit, leading to more tall grass and those stone ledges from before.

And even farther up ahead, past that, was a mountain.

A staircase led up to the mountain's entrance, and there was a sign out front. Other than that, though, there really wasn't much to note about it… Though, if Touya's random language knowledge proved true, something about Neji Mountain would have a physical twist.

"By the way," Touya began as they approached the mountain, "Danny, why's your Hitomoshi on your head?"

At some point during their walk down Route 7, Hitomoshi had gotten up on Danny's head. Danny glanced up with a vaguely surprise look.

"You know, I didn't even notice that she was up there… Oh! Here you go, Touya!" Danny abruptly plucked Hitomoshi off her head, skipped gaily over to Touya, and put the candle Pokémon on Touya's head.

Touko gasped and whirled around. "Holy crap, Touya! How long were you here?"

Touya just glared at Touko. "That joke's getting too old, now. And why can you see me now that I have a Hitomoshi on my head?"

But Touko was already walking away again, following after Pearl, who still held the unconscious Cheren in her arms.

"It's okay, Touya!" Danny said happily, slapping Touya's back. "I can see you!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Belle added. She jumped around for no reason and waved her hands in the air. "I can see you too, Touya-kun!"

Danny gasped. "Touya… kun? That sounds totally… cute! Touya, can I call you Touya-kun from now on?"

And Touya simply answered, "No," and walked after Pearl, Touko, Brendan, and Iris. Belle and Danny stood there for a moment before running after them.

They finally came to a stop in front of the staircase leading up to the mountain's entrance. Actually, now that they were closer, they saw that the staircase _didn't_ lead directly up to the entrance: it led up to a ledge/path, and that was what brought them to the entrance.

Though that should've been obvious in the first place, but…

"Touya, you bastard, you lied! There's no twisting in this mountain!"

"Did I say there _was_?" Touya snapped. "I said that's what the word meant. Jeez."

"Oho, look who it is! The trainers from Route 5... The little champions-in-the-making!"

The seven of them looked up in surprise at the top of the mountain, where a man with wild red hair stood. His hair and clothes blew around in the wind that wasn't even there. He had some kind of cream-colored cloak around his shoulders, and six Poké Balls were strung around his neck. Danny caught a glimpse of three more Pokémon hooked on somewhere underneath the cloak.

The man jumped down from the ledge, landing onto the ground with no problem at all. Pearl shrieked and dropped Cheren from her arms, letting the boy fall to the ground without a second thought. Needless to say, Cheren instantly regained consciousness, and shot up, looking around in a hurry.

"It's a hairy mountain man!" Pearl shrieked, stepping away from the man.

"Ugh, my head hurts…" Cheren grumbled. He stood up and fixed his glasses, momentarily glaring at Pearl, since he somehow knew that she dropped him, and then glanced at the man standing next to them. "…Oh! It's the Isshu champion, Adeku!"

"Quick, someone get me some salt to toss! That'll get rid of him, right?"

"So, looks like you guys are continuing your journey through the Isshu region, hmm?" Adeku asked. "That's good, that's good!"

"I don't have any salt…" Pearl muttered, checking her backpack for any possible salt to toss.

"I never did get the chance to meet all of you, did I? Well, in any case, it's nice to meet all of you! I'm Adeku."

Pearl bent down, picked up some dirt, and tossed it at Adeku. "Begone, mountain man!"

Those of them who didn't already know who Adeku was introduced themselves, all while Pearl kept tossing dirt at Adeku and saying, "Begone, mountain man." Apparently, she was convinced that he could be banished with a toss of dirt.

"Let's see, if you guys are about to enter Neji Mountain, then that must mean you defeated the Fukiyose Gym Leader?"

"Yeah. That was a scary gym."

"I received a spinal fracture from the cannons."

"I got a nosebleed from slamming into the wall."

"Ed turned into a pancake from the cannons."

"How would Ed have been…?"

"I put him in my shirt when we went into one of the cannons…"

"That could be considered reckless endangerment of a child."

"LOL, WHUT?"

"Guys, guys!" Cheren interrupted. "We are in the presence of a _champion_! Act appropriately!"

And so, both Touko and Pearl tossed another handful of dirt at Adeku.

"I _still_ don't get what you're doing."

After talking for a few more minutes, Adeku disappeared off somewhere, and Pearl believed that her dirt tossing was what had made him leave. Therefore, she was in a pretty good mood as they walked up the stairs and towards the mountain's entrance.

Unfortunately, just as they entered the cave, they encountered another mountain man. Actually, no, not a mountain man. It was a cowboy man. In other words, it was Yacon.

Pearl shrieked again and picked up some dirt, tossing it at Yacon. "Begone, cowboy man!"

"And there ain't enough room in this cave for the both of us…" Touko quietly mumbled in a Southern accent. She tipped her baseball cap and muttered something else unintelligible.

"I'm doing a routine inspection of the Neji Mountains." Yacon randomly started talking to them with that line. "…Hmph. You guys look strong."

This caused Brendan to start laughing hysterically, and Touya quietly said, "Okay, someone tell me that that _wasn't_ a creepy comment."

"Begone, cowboy man!"

"Team Plasma is somewhere in these mountains, or so I've heard from Ms. Fuuro," Yacon said, not paying attention to Pearl's dirt tossing. "Sounds like they're circling around this place for some reason. But, regardless, I'm sure you guys can handle it. You've got six badges, and you've got your Pokémon. You outta be okay."

"In other words," Touya said, "you want us to do the dirty work."

Yacon nodded. "Pretty much."

"Quick question," Touko said, raising her hand slightly. "Can I call this place Brokeback Mountain?"

And so, Brendan's laughing continued…

* * *

Author's Notes: Pearl's wanting to toss salt to banish Adeku is something that they do during Shinto (go look it up, yo,) ceremonies to remove impurities, if I'm correct. I can't remember right now, though.


	47. Chapter Forty Six

Author's Notes: I decided to make one of the grunts talk oddly, because we need variety among the Plasma grunts. By the way, I remember heading throught the Twist Mountain and, seeing a Plasma grunt ahead, was thinking that I'd have to battle him, so I healed all my Pokemon that needed healing.

Only to find out that I didn't need to battle him in the first place. I was seriously pissed.

* * *

Chapter Forty-Six

They discovered three things while traveling through the Neji Mountains. 1) Touya's name speculation was correct: the mountain had paths that twisted in and out of the tunnels, all of them leading out to one giant, deep hole, where there were rickety wooden planks as walkways leading out of the various tunnels. 2) There really were Team Plasma grunts hanging around the mountain. And 3) All Team Plasma battles should just be left to Brendan.

2 and 3 could easily be combined into one single thing, but that'll be saved for another occasion. Probably.

"Crap, you're really strong!" the Plasma grunt Brendan had just defeated said, taking a couple of clumsy steps back. Brendan stood in front of him with his arms crossed over his chest, Swampert by his side, also with his arms crossed over his chest. The others stood nearby.

"I know. After all, I am the strongest. It's wonderful, isn't it?" Brendan gaily flipped his hair, and Swampert tried not to laugh.

Behind the Plasma grunt was the cave exit, and now another Plasma grunt came in, hurrying up to the first one and starting to talk. "Oh! My friend is here! We have received an order! Now, we must-"

And then, the oddly speaking grunt noticed Brendan and Swampert, and jumped in surprise. "Oh, uh… We of Team Plasma shall work to-"

Brendan sighed and waved his hand around. "Yeah, yeah, liberate all the Pokémon, yadda yadda."

"Oh! This one is smart, is he not?"

"Don't say that, you're swelling our enemy's head! He's already got enough of an ego as it is, so let's just hurry up and return to our king, Lord N!" The first grunt jabbed a finger in their direction. "Be prepared next time, kiddies!"

Brendan grinned. "I'll be looking forward to it.~"

Flinching, the first grunt quickly grabbed the second one's arm and ran out of the cave before Brendan could do anything weird to them.

"I swear, these guys are just stupid," Brendan said. He looked over to the other seven and pointed at the exit. "Come on, guys. I think the exit's ahead."

One by one, Pearl, Iris, Touko, Touya, Cheren, Belle, and Danny followed after Brendan as they left the cave.

Ahead of them was what looked like a bunch of marshes, some of them filled up with water, and just from the way it looked, the grass surrounding it was probably soaked.

Also, Professor Araragi's father was standing right in front of the cave exit.

"Holy shit, Papa Araragi's a creeper, too!"

"Papa Araragi…?"

"Well, yeah. See, he's Professor Araragi's father, so if you put 'papa' at the front of it…"

"Okay. Papa Araragi's a creeper."

Pearl was busy looking around for some dirt to throw, so she just opted to pluck out some grass and tossed it at him. "Begone, Papa Araragi!"

"Oh!" Papa Araragi randomly exclaimed. "If it isn't Danny, Belle, and all of their friends!"

"We have _names_, you know," Brendan responded. No one seemed to hear him, however.

"Danny," Papa Araragi continued, "do you have a Hitomoshi?"

"…How'd you know that… rather, why the heck did you want to know that?"

"Hmm…. No particular reason. By the way, did you know that your Pokédex is a very valuable item?"

Brendan sighed and smacked his forehead.

"To fill up its pages even more, may I suggest going to the Dragon Spiral Tower? Do you know what that is?"

"What's that?" Brendan asked. He dramatically gasped. "No, wait! I mean, yes, I do know what it is, so please don't-"

"Alright, just listen to this old Papa Araragi!"

"Great, Brendan, juuuusssstttt great."

And so, Papa Araragi began his speech: "The Dragon Spiral Tower is the oldest building in the Isshu region, and stories say that it's the place where the legendary Pokémon were born, or possibly where they sleep." Papa Araragi paused to point ahead, to the north.

"It's located just ahead of Sekka City. My daughter suddenly gained an interest in it, and so I've decided to go and investigate it myself! And so, that's where I'll be going! See you all later!"

Waving at them, Papa Araragi turned around and started walking away, up a flight of stairs that led up from the marsh area and disappearing.

"I swear, the Isshu region has too many creepers around," Pearl randomly said after he was gone. "And they're all, like, men, too, which kinda adds to the creeper aspect. Anyways, let's get going to the Pokémon Center."

"I swear," Brendan began as they started walking in the direction Papa Araragi had walked to, "you must have the attention span of, like, a Slowpoke."

"What was that you just said, Brendan?"

"Nothing. I said nothing."

It only took them a minute or so to reach the Pokémon Center. After getting her Pokémon healed, Danny decided to go ahead and explore the city a bit. Letting out her five Pokémon, they left the center and started wandering around the city.

There were plenty of bridges crossing over the marshland below, and stairs led down to the marsh as well. Up on the higher ground, there were more people around: four people were randomly dancing around in a circle and clapping, while other people just loitered around. Danny spotted a couple of wild Pokémon playing around in the marshland, too.

When Danny would go up to people and talk, a lot of them mentioned things about the legendary Pokémon and the Dragon Spiral Tower. The black one was Zekrom and the white one was Reshiram.

And so, after talking to nearly every person in the city, Danny went back to one of the bridges and sat down, letting her legs dangle over the side.

"Huuuhhh," Danny randomly said, leaning back and looking up at the sky: it was almost night, and stars were beginning to dot the sky. "Guys, what do you think we should do?"

"What?" Fire Pig asked, having been distracted with watching something below. "What'd you say? I wasn't paying attention."

"Should we go out to the Dragon Spiral Tower and explore it right now?"

Ed tried to reply. "Y-y-y-y-y-yyyyyeeee-" Poor Ed never managed to finish his sentence, and melted down into a puddle on the bridge. Hitomoshi proceeded to suck out his soul with a smile on her face.

Doc clicked her tongue a couple of times. "Don't you think it'll be dangerous? It's night… and those Team Plasma people might be hanging around here."

Fire Pig jumped up, rattling the bridge as he jumped again and landed. "I agree with Ed, totally! Let's go explooorrrriiiinnnnggg!"

"…Tiger, Hitomoshi, what do you guys think?"

Tiger, predictably, didn't answer. But he did seem to be shaking his head around. Hitomoshi, on the other hand…

"I think we should go and explore!" she said. Apparently, she already knew how to talk…? "That way, if you guys die, I can suck out your souls!… Mm, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!~"

Danny jumped up excitedly and shouted, "Alright! The majority of the votes say yes! LET'S GOOOOO!"

"YEEEEAAAAHHHH!"

"…But none of them could ever foresee the _tragedy_ that awaited them…"

Everyone turned to stare at Doc, who'd say the above line in a creepy, deep voice and was now pretending that she hadn't just done so.

* * *

…Or so they wanted to explore the Dragon Spiral Tower, but upon reaching the tower, they found that there was no entrance at all and that the tower was located out in the mild of a lake.

And so, they were back to square one.

"Now whatttt?" Danny whined, walking back from the tower area with her Pokémon. "We can't explore it! This is sooooo boring!"

"Why don't we challenge the gym?" Fire Pig suggested.

"What? There's a gym here?"

Fire Pig nodded. "Yeah. We passed by it. I saw the sign."

"Really?… No, wait, you can read?"

"Oh, my god! You're right! I can _read_?"

As Danny and Fire Pig squealed like a couple of high school girls, Doc, Tiger, Hitomoshi, and Ed just watched them squeal back and forth. Ed apparently got too excited by the news that Fire Pig could read and melted into a puddle for the millionth time that day.

Hitomoshi was tempted to suck out his soul, but after having done it multiple times, she was already bored with its taste. What she _really_ wanted to eat, however, was that fire pig's soul… it would surely taste delicious, especially if it was grilled first with anger, and then…

"Hitomoshi? You coming?"

Hitomoshi blinked in surprise, looking up to see that her trainer and teammates had already been walking ahead, over towards the gym. Danny had stopped and was staring back at Hitomoshi expectantly.

Hitomoshi grinned innocently and hopped after her trainer.


	48. Chapter Forty Seven

Author's Notes: There is no gym trainer by the name of Michiru in the Iccirus Gym... I just couldn't remember any of their names at the time of writing, so I just randomly typed out Michiru and I can't bring myself to change the name.

* * *

Chapter Forty-Eight

Danny instantly knew what kind of Pokémon the Gym Leader here trained as soon as she walked into the gym. Sure, she should've realized that by the way it looked outside, but Danny didn't fully realize it until she walked into the gym.

The floor was covered in ice, and it was freezing. Curved chunks of woods were out over the ice, and there were patches of plain ground that seemed to have colored buttons on them. Danny could vaguely see gears under the ice where the wood chunks were. Trainers were all around the gym, on the iceless ground places.

Of course, Danny didn't realize the part where, hey, the ice was slippery, and ran out onto the ice without a second thought. And then she was sliding across the ice, screaming. She skidded over to the wooden chunk, slammed into it, and was then sent sliding in another direction.

Fire Pig screamed like a little girl at the sight of Danny sliding around, Doc was trying not to snicker, Tiger had no reaction as usual, Ed exploded from the awesome excitement of it, and Hitomoshi was getting hungry at the thought of eating Danny's soul after she died from sliding on the ice.

Finally, Danny came to a stop on the iceless ground. She couldn't feel her legs or her butt anymore… after all, she'd been sliding around the ice with as much grace as Fire Pig using Heat Stamp.

"Yo, Miss Trainer!" a girl's voice said. Danny, exhausted, glanced up to see a younger girl standing there. Danny quickly noted that she must be freezing in the outfit she wore. "How do you like slipping and sliding around the gym?"

"It's, um… cold."

"Haha, us Gym trainers aren't bothered by the cold! So," the girl paused and took out a Poké Ball from seemingly no where. "Miss Trainer, we shall battle!"

Danny instantly jumped up, whirling around to look back at where her Pokémon still were by the entrance. "Ed! Hitomoshi! Come on over here! Let's battle!"

Hitomoshi was slightly disappointed that she wasn't able to eat Danny's soul, but Ed immediately recovered from his explosion and bounced on over to Danny. Likewise, Hitomoshi did as well.

"Hey, there's an idea! Let's have a double battle!" the girl practically shouted, and took out a second Poké Ball, tossing both in the air and letting out two Pokémon: a small, white, bear-like Pokémon with a runny nose and a larger Pokémon that looked like an ice cream cone with a smiley face. "Kumashun, Icy Wind! Vaniricchi, Avalanche!"

"Okay! Then… Hitomoshi, Flame Burst! Ed, Hidden Power!"

* * *

"I wonder where Danny is…" Belle muttered. She had her face pressed against the front window of the Pokémon Center with a solemn expression.

Iris currently had out a notepad and scribbled a little tally mark on it. "That marks twenty times that you've said that, Belle."

Belle whirled around to look at Iris. "B-but…! What if she fell into the swamp stuff? And, like, like, there's a giant monster in there that likes to lick off people's clothes? Oh, my god! Danny! DANNY, RETAIN YOUR CLOTHES!"

Iris just stared at Belle. "What the heck is going _on_ in your head, girl?" she muttered. Kibago, who was inside her hair, nodded its head in agreement to something.

"Is Belle going into hysterics again?" Touko asked, walking over to where Iris and Belle were.

Iris nodded. "Yeah," she answered, "Something about a swamp monster that's licking off people's clothes."

"I think she was watching horror movies again."

"That must be one heck of a horror movie… a swamp monster that licks people's clothes off? You know, that sounds more like something out of a po-"

"DANNY'S HERE!" Belle screamed, detaching herself from the window and running towards the Pokémon Center entrance, where Danny was indeed walking in, along with a girl with a long braid. "DANNNNY!" Belle threw her arms around Danny and hugged her tightly. "I was so worried, and I thought you fell into the swamp, and that you were captured by the licking swamp monster!"

Danny patted her head, but answered with a confused tone of voice, "…What?"

"I'm so glad you still have all your clothes!"

"…Where'd you even get that idea from? Did you watch a cheesy horror movie while I was gone?"

Belle finally let go of Danny, wiping away imaginary tears. "No, not really." She paused and glanced at the girl still standing next to Danny. "Who's this?"

"I'm Michiru!" the girl replied happily. "I was helping Danny out with her gym challenge after we battled! But then Leader Hachiku said it was time to close up the gym, so I decided to escort Danny back here!"

"Ehhhh? Danny, you were challenging the gym?"

Danny nodded. "I wanted to explore the Dragon Spiral Tower, but there's no way to get inside of it, but then Fire Pig mentioned the gym sign he saw and we went there instead."

"Well, challenging the gym is definitely better than getting your clothes licked off by a swamp monster…" Belle muttered quietly.

"I'll be leaving now, then!" Michiru abruptly said, waving at Danny and walking out of the Pokémon Center. "See you later, Danny! And Miss Belle, you too! Make sure you both challenge the gym again tomorrow, 'kay? Bye-bye!"

After Michiru was gone, Belle asked, "Wait, Fire Pig can read….?"

* * *

That next morning, everyone had lined up in front of Pearl in the Pokémon Center's lobby area.

"So, today, everyone's going to go challenge the gym, right?" Pearl shouted a little too loudly.

Everyone responded with little enthusiasm: "Yaaay."

"And I," Pearl began and spun around gaily in a circle, "am going to catch all the Pokémon around this area!"

"Yaaayyy."

Pearl pointed at Cheren. "Cheren! Are you coming with me?"

Cheren ran out of the Pokémon Center faster than you could spell Musharna.

"Pearl. Inducing fear in forehead boys since 1805," Danny said in a deep, announcer-like voice.

Pearl looked at Danny. "I wasn't born in 1805..."

Danny ran after Cheren as fast as she could, shouting for him to stop and wait for her before the wild Pearl attacked.

Pearl turned to look back down at the remaining kids in front of her: Belle, Touko, Touya, and Iris. Brendan had mysteriously disappeared at some point because he was smart. They stared at each other in silence, Pearl not blinking once, and the other four just stood there in fear.

Pearl sighed and waved her hand. "Go."

"Thank you, oh grand one!" Touko said with a bow. And then she was running like hell before Pearl changed her mind, Touya, Iris, and Belle following after her. Outside the building, though, Danny was patiently waiting for them. Cheren, however, was not. He'd apparently kept on running.

"So, Danny," Touya began as they joined up with her, "where's the gym?"

"Follow me, ohoho!" Danny declared proudly, and started marching off around the building. Touya, Touko, Belle, and Iris followed after her as she led them through the city, past a couple of crazy clapping people, and up towards a cave nearby. Ice lined the outside of it, and two stone statues stood on either side of the cave entrance.

"This is it!" Danny announced, coming to a stop in front of the cave.

"What, seriously?" Touko asked, looking unimpressed with the gym.

Danny nodded, walking on into the cave, whistling loudly. "Yep! Let's go, let's go!" Belle was at Danny's heels, loudly singing the same thing. Touko, Iris, and Touya followed a few steps behind them, but Touya stopped just as he was walking in and turned around, looking around a bit.

"Touya, something wrong?" Iris asked. Apparently she was the only one who'd noticed that Touya had stopped.

Touya didn't answer for a moment, and then he shook his head and looked back at Iris. "No, it was nothing. Sorry."

Inside, the gym was freezing, which was a much nicer difference compared to the heat outside. Iris was already shivering and sneezing, but Touya seemed unaffected by the cold as he watched Touko slide on the ice and fall on her butt, and he tried not to laugh.

"Michiiiirrruuuuu!" Danny shouted loudly. "I'm heeeerrreee!"

Touya watched as one of the gym trainers came sliding towards the entrance. She said something to Danny, then grabbed her hand, and the two of them were sliding across the ice together. Belle was trying to slide across the ice by herself, but she was having just as much trouble as Touko was, falling and slipping.

"Ugh, it's soooo cold…" Iris mumbled, hugging herself and shivering. "Touya…" She sneezed. "I'm leaving. I can't handle the cold anymore. I think Kibago's freezing, too."

Touya nodded, silently walking over to the ice and stepping on it. He took another step, and then another… and he was just simply walking across the ice without a single problem.

"Damn it, Touya!" Touko shouted, trying to push herself up from the floor. "You're cheatinnnngggg! You can't just walk across the ice like that!"

Touya looked back over his shoulder, fixing his cap and answering, "Yes, I can, and I just did. See ya later."

"TOUUUUYYYYAAAAAA!"

* * *

Today, Hachiku had some challengers, or so his gym trainers told him. So, now, he was currently going over the lines he'd say upon the challenger walking up to him…

"A Gym Leader challenge requires preparation of the heart," he said aloud. "And… now!"

…Those were all that he needed to say. Simple, yet effective. His trainers all agreed to this line, or to any line he proposed, with eagerness. He remembered the day when several new trainers all came to his gym, wanting to work there as gym trainers… he'd battled them all, and seeing as how they all trainer ice-type Pokémon, accepted them as gym trainers. From then on, he and his gym trainers took on those traveling trainers that challenged the gym, and…

"A Gym Leader challenge requires preparation of the heart," he repeated. "And…"

"Michiru, why's there a freakishly yellow guy standing here half naked while talking to himself?"

"That's the Gym Leader, Hachiku! And he's not half naked… he's wearing clothes!"

"…Michiru…" Hachiku sighed. "You didn't deny the part about me being yellow…!"

"Wah! Sorry, Leader Hachiku! Danny, Leader Hachiku isn't yellow at all!"

Truth be told, Hachiku _was_ a bit yellow colored… and, sure, half of his chest wasn't covered up, but still…

"It could be worse!" Hachiku announced while dramatically pointing up to the sky. "Yacon of Hodomoe City surely couldn't pull this outfit off!"

And back in Hodomoe City, Yacon sneezed while he was talking on his phone.

"Oh, yeah, I have to agree with you there… that'd be really creepy. Anyways, Mr. Hachiku!" Danny abruptly decided to change the subject, pointing at Hachiku and shouting, "Let's battle!"

"Wait, allow me to say my lines first!" Hachiku coughed in his hand a bit, took in a deep breath, and said, "A Gym Leader challenge requires preparation of the heart… And so, that's right now…!"

* * *

Author's Notes: I think Hachiku has jaundice. He's very yellow.


	49. Chapter Forty Eight VS Hachiku

Author's Notes: I made a little mistake around here... Hachiku's Vaniricchi _doesn't_ know Avalanche. Oh... and I forgot to mention this a couple of chapters ago, but Hachiku's English name is Brycen. Vaniricchi is Vanillish, Freezio is Cryogonal (I can't even pronounce that name), and Tsunbear is Beartic.

* * *

Chapter Forty-Eight

Hachiku's first Pokémon was a Vaniricchi, the ice cream cone Pokémon with a dopey face. Danny sent out Ed to battle, who miraculously hadn't exploded upon the excitement of seeing an ice cream cone.

"Ed, Hidden Power!"

"Vaniricchi, Avalanche!"

Vaniricchi was much faster than Ed, summoning up an avalanche of snow from seemingly nowhere. It came down from the ceiling, apparently, and crashed down on Ed, completely covering up the green blob Pokémon.

"Ohmigawd, you killed Ed?"

But, no… Ed was not dead. Danny squinted at the pile of snow, finding that it seemed to be moving… and then the pile of snow seemingly exploded, bright lights flying everywhere as Ed reemerged from the snow pile. The lights gathered back around Ed, shone even brighter, and then shot back out towards Vaniricchi, slamming into it and knocking it to the ground.

"Psycho Shock!"

"Use Avalanche again!"

This time, Ed managed to narrowly avoid the snow toppling down from the ceiling, and quickly sent a couple of silver balls of light (at least, that was what they looked like to Danny,) at Vaniricchi. They slammed into it, and Vaniricchi fell down to the ground, unconscious.

"Woohoo, way to go, Ed!" Danny cheered. Ed looked at Danny with an excited expression and then fainted into a puddle. Danny sighed and smacked her forehead. "I should've kept my mouth shut… Ed, return!" she shouted, taking out Ed's Poké Ball and returning him to it. She took out Fire Pig's Poké Ball next, letting out the pig Pokémon. "Fire Pig, your turn!"

Hachiku had also returned his Vaniricchi, and had sent out his next Pokémon, a tall, white, bear Pokémon with sharp claws. Danny instantly realized how big the Pokémon was… but quickly pushed the fear back.

"Fire Pig, use Arm Thrust!"

"Tsunbear, Swagger!"

Fire Pig was, by some kind of miracle, much faster than Tsunbear. He charged up to the bear Pokémon and began hitting it with his arms, once, twice, three times, four times…

Fire Pig didn't get to hit Tsunbear a fifth time, because the Pokémon toppled down to the ground and quickly fell unconscious.

"That was a little too easy," Fire Pig quietly said and prayed for the Tsunbear's death. Though it wasn't really dead.

Hachiku returned Tsunbear to its Poké Ball and sent out a third Pokémon… which looked like a large snowflake with a face. Danny thought that if a little kid saw that Pokémon, they'd probably have nightmares for the next couple of weeks… after all, it looked a little scary, especially when it seemed to grin.

Danny shook her head and returned Fire Pig to his Poké Ball, taking out Hitomoshi's Poké Ball instead and letting out the candle Pokémon. "Okay, Hitomoshi! Use Flame Burst!"

"Freezio, use Reflect!"

As the snowflake Pokémon, named Freezio, set up a wall of light to protect itself, Hitomoshi shot out a flame that passed right through the wall of light and slammed into Freezio, exploding on contact with it. Freezio was pushed back a bit, but remained standing… or rather, remained floating.

"Aurora Beam!"

"Flame Burst!"

Freezio sent out a freezing, yet colorful looking beam of light at Hitomoshi. Hitomoshi sent out another flame at Freezio, and as it exploded on contact with Freezio, the cold beam rained down on Hitomoshi.

The battle went on like that for a while…. Freezio kept out firing out Aurora Beams, while Hitomoshi sent out exploding flames. Freezio's ice attacks didn't seem to be having much of an effect on Hitomoshi, and Hitomoshi didn't seem to be strong enough to take out Freezio so easily. Sure, it probably would've been easier to just switch Hitomoshi out for a different Pokémon, but…

"Flameeee Burrrssstttt!" Danny dramatically shouted.

Hitomoshi sent out the umpteenth bursting flame at Freezio, who was still trying to recover from the previous attack. The flame slammed into Freezio, and it finally toppled down onto its back, and didn't get back up.

"…Did we do it?" Danny asked. Seeing as how Freezio didn't seem to be getting back up anytime soon, Danny happily dove towards Hitomoshi, picking up the candle Pokémon and dancing around gaily, holding Hitomoshi up in the air. "WOOHOO! GO, MY LITTLE CANDLE, GO!"

Hitomoshi was silently hoping that Danny would trip and fall unconscious so she could suck out her soul.

Hachiku had returned Freezio to its Poké Ball and started talking, "…I failed to bring medicine today because I believed the challengers were nothing special…. Freezio, I must apologize… I had no idea our challenger would be so strong…" Hachiku looked up from the Poké Ball to continue talking to Danny. "You and your Pokémon had a wonderful combination!"

Danny finally stopped spinning around. "A wonderful combination? Of what… repeating the same move over and over until the enemy faints?"

"Yes…! That itself is something elegant… and your heart is strong as well! And so… take this." Reaching into an unseen pocket, Hachiku took out an icicle shaped badge and handed it to Danny. "The seventh badge of the Isshu region, the Icicle Badge!"

Danny took the badge and simply shoved it into her skirt pocket. She didn't have a badge case, so all of her gym badges and other things she found simply got shoved down into her pocket, because it was an endless pit and that was where gym badges went. Danny looked back up at Hachiku, who now stood there silently, like a statue.

Michiru, who'd been watching the entire battle, now leaned over to Danny and whispered, "Leader Hachiku isn't going to say anything else. He might not say it, but he's kinda depressed right now."

"Okay," Danny whispered back, having no idea why they were whispering in the first place. Turning around and walking away, Danny headed over to a place she'd seen nearby… a long, ice slide that seemed to stretch all the way back to the gym entrance.

Sitting down on the ice slide with Hitomoshi on her lap, Danny started sliding down it, hoping that she wouldn't slip over the side of it and fall down into the black depths below.

The slide dropped Danny back onto the ice floor at the very beginning of the gym, and Danny slid across the floor and stopped at the ground surrounding the entrance. To her surprise, Touko and Belle were still sliding around that area.

Belle spotted Danny, however, and slid on over to her, shivering. "H-h-hi Danny! It's reaaallly cold here… D-d-d-did you get your gym badge?"

Danny nodded. "Yup! Where's Cheren, Touya, and Iris?"

"Um…" Belle loudly sneezed, rubbing her nose. "I dunno where Cheren is, but Iris left earlier 'cause she couldn't handle the cold. I think Touya's still around here somewhere…"

"I'm right here," Touya said, and Belle and Danny screamed as they noticed that Touya was standing right there by the entrance, his hands in his pockets. "It's freezing here. Let's go outside."

"That's fine with me! Let's go!"

And so, Touya, Belle, and Danny left the gym. Touko had started shouting, "Belle! BELLE! DON'T YOU LEAVE THIS BUILDING, YOUNG LADY! BELLE…. BELLE!"

Outside the gym, it was raining. Oh, and Cheren was just standing out there in the rain, appearing to be unaffected by it.

"…You guys…" Cheren began. "Why did we leave on this journey?"

"Um… why are you just standing out here in the rain?"

"I left," Cheren continued, "in order to become the champion of the Pokémon League. But-"

"Cheren," Touya simply interrupted. "It's raining. Are you stupid or something?"

"I-"

"Which reminds me, Danny! I saw the Pokémon Fan Club nearby! Wanna go there?"

"Ooh, I do, I do!"

"GUYS!" Cheren bellowed, but no one seemed to hear him.

Someone suddenly came out of the building, much to Touya, Belle, and Danny's surprise. They stepped aside to find that it was the Gym Leader, Hachiku, who had randomly exited the gym.

"Who are you?" Hachiku simply asked.

Belle looked confused. "Huh? Well, I'm Belle, and the forehead boy is Cheren… Oh, and over here is Touya, and…"

"No, that's not what I-"

But then, a weird sound was heard, and they whirled around to see three people materializing out of thin air… Danny suddenly realized that the three people were the Dark Trinity, the ninja-like people they'd run into at the Electric Rock Cave…

"REVENNNNGEEE!" Danny screamed, jabbing her finger at one of them. "YOU BASTARDS DROPPED ME ON THE FLOOR! I WANT-"

"…"

"Danny, I don't think they're listening to you," Touya simply reported as Danny shouted unintelligible sentences at the Dark Trinity.

"As expected of the Sekka City Gym Leader," one of the Dark Trinity said.

Another one of them spoke, "We who hide in the shadows… That is us, the Dark Trinity."

Danny finally quieted down, realizing what Hachiku had been talking about… he'd noticed those three standing out here and was asking who _they_ were, not who Cheren, Belle, and Touya were.

"But we aren't here for you," the third of them said. He raised a hand and pointed at Danny. "We only need Danny."

"Huh? Me? Why me?"

"We've been requested by Geechisu to pass on a message to you… come to the Dragon Spiral Tower. Lord N waits there…"

"What? Dragon Spiral Tower?" Hachiku took a few steps forwards, still shouting, "What do you want with that place-"

But the Dark Trinity vanished as simply as they'd appeared, leaving Hachiku's questions unanswered. Hachiku sighed. "…You kids. I apologize, but your gym challenge is going to have to wait. I'm heading to the Dragon Spiral Tower!"

"I'm coming, too!" Cheren added.

"Wait… didn't they say they only wanted Danny?" Belle asked.

Cheren sighed, pushing up his glasses. "…Belle. We aren't stupid enough to let Danny go alone." And then, he added, "They might unleash the swamp monster on Danny is she goes alone!"

Belle screamed loudly, but Cheren and Hachiku were already running off towards the north area of the city. Touya, Danny, and Belle remained where they were in front of the gym.

"…Um…" Belle began slowly. "Maybe I should go get the others?"

"How about this? Belle, if we don't come back for a while, tell everyone else where we are, okay?" Touya said. He turned towards Danny and said, "Let's go!"

Danny nodded, and they ran off in the direction Hachiku and Cheren had headed in, leaving a confused Belle behind.

* * *

Author's Notes: I had a feeling something was going to happen as soon as I left the gym, so I'd saved my game beforehand. And whaddya know... I was right.


	50. Chapter Forty Nine

Author's Notes: I like how Papa Araragi fails to go get help from anyone when Team Plasma busts a hole IN THE FREAKING WALL. I MEAN, COME ON.

We have to rely on stalker ninjas to get the message around. Can't rely on creeper old men who stand around and watch the scene itself.

* * *

Chapter Forty-Nine

The Dragon Spiral Tower wasn't that far ahead, and when Touya and Danny finally reached it, they saw that Papa Araragi was waiting out in front of the patch of trees that lead up to the tower.

"Danny, Touya!~" Belle's voice shouted, and the two turned around to see that Belle was running after them.

"Belle, didn't you just say…?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Or, rather," Touya interrupted and pointed at the old man in front of them. "What's the professor's father doing here?"

"Oh, yeah…"

"Hey, you kids!" Papa Araragi said. He jabbed his thumb in the direction of the tower. "Team Plasma's at this place right now, busted a hole right through the tower's wall! I don't know what they're doing there, but then Sekka City's Gym Leader Hachiku came running by with that other boy, Cheren, and then they-"

"Yeah, we kinda know that they were here, but… Team Plasma busted a hole in the wall?"

Papa Araragi nodded. "You know, they say that a legendary dragon Pokémon waits at the top of the tower for the person pursuing the truth… or ideals. Something like that, you know? I'm just hoping that they aren't here for that Pokémon… Danny, Touya, Belle! You kids have to go stop Team Plasma!"

"Well, yeah, that's what we were coming here to do…"

"But be careful. Those Team Plasma goons are dangerous. I don't want any of you to get killed, because then I'd have to tell my daughter that, and you know that that would be just terrible."

"…"

"No need to worry, Professor Papa Araragi!" Belle began, "Danny and Touya and Cheren are all really strong, so they can beat up those Team Plasma people super easy!… But I'm not really as strong as they are, so how about I just be your bodyguard?"

Papa Araragi started laughing loudly. "I'll take you up on that offer, then!… Danny and Touya, good luck. In fact, I want you to take this with you…" Papa Araragi proceeded to reach into his pocket and handed Danny a purple cake thing. "An Old Gateau!"

"…Why was that in your pocket?"

"Haha, who knows? But get going now, go! Good luck!"

Danny glanced at Touya unsurely, but he simply nodded, and so the two headed on through the tree gate while Danny shoved the Old Gateau into her skirt pocket. Up ahead was the tower, stretching high, high up. Though there'd initially been no entrance back when Danny went there yesterday, Team Plasma had surely blasted a hole into the wall of the tower. The pillars that head lined the water up to the tower were partially crumbled, and there was now solid ground leading up to hole in the wall.

A couple of Team Plasma grunts stood before the water path, and Touya simply grabbed Danny's hand and pulled her ahead. They walked right past the grunts and headed down the path leading up to the tower. Once they were safely inside the tower, Danny had to ask…

"Touya… why did…?"

"I just decided to test it out. Apparently, so long as someone is holding onto me, they're invisible, too. Let's just go, now."

Shrugging and taking his explanation for what it was, Danny walked alongside Touya as they walked through the first room. The floor was green tiles, and a pool of water lay off to the side. At the end of the room was a staircase. And… there were a bunch of wild Pokémon, looking completely confused as to why a bunch of people were suddenly charging into their home.

As soon as Touya and Danny reached the staircase, though, a low rumble filled the tower, and it seemed to slightly shake, like an earthquake. Danny and Touya stood completely still during this, and once they were sure it was over, nodded at each other and headed up the staircase.

The next room was completely destroyed, with pillars crumbled over and chunks of stone, of all shapes and sizes, lay across the floor. It was nearly impossible to get over to the area where a smaller staircase stood, leading to the next room…

"Oh… I think I just saw Cheren," Touya muttered. "Whatever. How the heck are we gonna get over there?"

Danny seemed to think about it for a moment, and then she took out a Poké Ball and let out Fire Pig. "…Fire Pig! Can you bring Touya and I over to that staircase?"

Fire Pig was already looking around the destroyed room, and then followed where Danny was pointing. He was silent for a moment, and then shouted, "ALL RIGHT! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR A CASTLE EXPLORAAAATTTIOOOONNNN!"

Touya smacked his forehead and sighed, and Danny just loudly cheered alongside him.

"But, yeah, I'll bring you guys over there," Fire Pig abruptly said after screaming his excitement for a bit. Picking up Danny and holding her under one arm, and holding Touya under the other, Fire Pig started charging over to the area that was pretty much blocked by destroyed ground.

And then he jumped, and Danny feared that Fire Pig wasn't going to make it to the other side. But, by defying the laws of gravity, Fire Pig landed on the staircase and put Danny and Touya back down onto the stairs.

"I was afraid I wasn't going to make it for a sec," Fire Pig simply said.

"Yeah. That's very reassuring," Touya grumbled. He sighed, and started heading up the stairs. "Come on, Danny, Fire Pig!"

"ROGER!"

The next room was weird. There were lots of narrow, and small, ledges that were all across the room. But in between those ledges was just… black nothingness. A spiral staircase was at the end of the room, leading up to the next floor.

"Um… how do we do this?" Fire Pig asked.

"Just hop across the ledges. It's easy."

"Yeah, easy for you two. You aren't big and meaty, like me."

"Okay… I'll just return you to your Poké Ball, then?"

"No. I'm a MAN. A MAN'S GOTTA FACE HIS FEARS, YO."

Danny and Touya didn't bother saying anything back to Fire Pig, and they started hopping across the ledges. It was a bit of a challenge, though… they'd nearly lost their footing and fallen more than once. And Fire Pig was quietly screaming and prancing around like a little fairy.

A few minutes later and the two children had reached the end of the floor, where the staircase was. They watched Fire Pig prance around, and then Touya suggested that he jumped over to where they were. Fire Pig did just that, and miraculously landed next to them. And so, they headed up the spiral staircase, heading up to the next floor.

The next floor didn't have any difficult flooring, but it was filled with lots of Team Plasma grunts. At the end of the floor were multiple staircases, that led up to platforms that led to the next staircase, and so on. There were Team Plasma people waiting on all of those platforms.

On the lower floor that Touya, Danny, and Fire Pig just came up to, though, Hachiku and Cheren were busy battling a bunch of grunts. Upon spotting them, Hachiku shouted…

"You guys are here! We're holding these guys back, so hurry on ahead!"

"Okay, thank you!" Touya shouted, and he and Danny ran past them, heading up to the first staircase. They didn't get very far, though, before a Plasma grunt stepped in front of them, sighing.

"Those Hachiku and Cheren guys are seriously annoying…" he grumbled, taking out a Poké Ball and sending out a Pokémon. "Go, Miruhog!"

"Fire Pig, use Arm Thrust!" Danny yelled before the grunt could even give an order for the chipmunk/groundhog Pokémon. Fire Pig, who'd been following close behind Touya and Danny, charged forwards, hitting the Miruhog once, twice…

He didn't get to even strike a third time before Miruhog fell unconscious. The grunt was completely silent as he returned the Pokémon and stepped out of their way.

And they didn't get very far before they were greeted by… all the grunts they'd seen up ahead. Apparently, they'd all come down to block the way together, which was a surprisingly smart idea coming from them.

"You'll have to get by all of us first!" one of the grunts said, acting proud, like he was the smartest person in the world.

"We aren't just gonna let you go by so easily!"

"All together, we'll be strong enough to stop you!"

"Yeah! But this high tension is marked by the awesome me!… Did that make any sense?"

Touya and Danny just looked at each other, and Fire Pig was surprisingly silent. Touya let out one of his Pokémon, a large, blue and white Pokémon that stood on its four legs.

"Danny," Touya whispered, "I'm gonna have Daikenki blast you up to the top, 'kay? Don't stop once you're up there… just get going ahead, got it?"

"Okay…" Danny nodded, returning Fire Pig to his Poké Ball. Naturally, the grunts were all suspicious as to why they were whispering, and why Danny was returning her Pokémon.

"Daikenki! Hydro Pump!"

The Pokémon, Daikenki, stepped behind Danny and blasted her with a jet of water. Naturally, the Plasma grunts screamed dramatically, ducking down as Danny flew up in the air. The water stopped once she was high enough, and she somehow managed to land on the top platform, though she nearly fell off the edge.

Letting Fire Pig out of his Poké Ball, Danny ran ahead into the next room… which luckily had no grunts at all. It was a giant, circular room, with mysteriously placed walls and ledges. Apparently, it was a maze.

"Hm… I say we go right!" Danny decided, turning down the right path and walking down it. She wandered around the maze, turning down certain paths without a second thought, and Fire Pig obediently followed her, wondering how the heck his trainer was guessing which path to go down.

Finally, they arrived at another staircase, leading up to the next floor.

"Haha, I guess right!" Danny proudly said as she started walking up the stairs.

"That was so cool!" Fire Pig added. "I don't know how you guessed it right!… I would've taken the left path, actually…"

Suddenly, though, a loud cry sounded out, and Fire Pig and Danny both froze on the staircase. The cry sounded… creepy, at least to Danny it did. Once it had quieted down, Danny and Fire Pig started walking up the stairs again. And Fire Pig was, again, mysteriously quiet as he followed Danny.

The next room didn't have any mazes or puzzles, but as Fire Pig and Danny rounded around the corner of the hall, they saw an old man in a weirdly patterned robe and four Plasma grunts lined up in front of him.

"Did you hear that cry just now?" the old man said to the grunts. "Lord N has truly become the new hero of Isshu!… Huh?" He turned to where Danny and Fire Pig stood, apparently lacking the brains to hide and just opted to head on out there. The old man pointed at them. "How did you get this far?… For the sake of Lord N, fight and defeat this trainer!"

The four grunts saluted, and quickly ran over to Danny and Fire Pig, surrounding them so closely that they couldn't run away. The old man had backed away from them, and now shouted, "Get rid of this child!"

"Doc, Tiger, Hitomoshi, Ed! Come on out!" Danny yelled, tossing four Poké Balls in the air and letting out her other Pokémon. The grunts all sent out their own Pokémon, trying to taunt Danny with lame lines.

"Kid, you shouldn't be interfering with our plans! You're gonna regret it!"

"We'll do anything to achieve our wishes! We'll stop you troublesome trainers!"

"Go! Plaaasssmmmaaa!"

"Come on, come on! You really think you can take on all four of us at the same time?"

"Well, that's what I'm gonna do!" Danny shouted. "Fire Pig, Arm Thrust! Doc, Double Slap! Um… Tiger, Razor Leaf! Hitomoshi, Flame Burst! Ed, use Psycho Shock!"

Fire Pig easily knocked out one of the grunt's Pokémon,, and knocked out another grunt's Lepardas, and both Hitomoshi and Ed took out two other Pokémon. Tiger miraculously attacked one of the Pokémon, but didn't knock it out.

And then Doc let out a battle cry and started beating up the Pokémon that Tiger had attacked until it fell unconscious.

"Doc, calm down, girl! Get a hold of yourself, man!"

Doc abruptly calmed down, and then coughed and stepped back to stand alongside her teammates, who were just staring at her with various expressions.

"This isn't over yet!" one of the grunts shouted as he returned his Pokémon. "Your psycho Tabunne may have knocked out my Pokémon, but-"

"Excuse me?" Doc shrieked. "Did you just… oh, no, you didn't! Tiger, did he just say what I think he said? DID HE JUST SAY WHAT I THINK HE SAID?"

Tiger nodded, muttering something and shuffling around a bit.

"Oh, that is it. Come on, you. Send out your next buddy so I can beat him up, and then I'll beat you up. You _will_ regret calling me that. You will-"

"Okay, Doc, calm down…" Danny said, patting Doc's head.

The grunt in question seemed to be the only one with another Pokémon (well, actually, another grunt had sent out a Lepardas that Fire Pig knocked out), and he sent it out. Doc unleashed her fury upon the Pokémon, a crocodile-like one apparently called Warvil. She let out a scream and performed her finishing move, and then skidded on the ground and screamed, yet again, "WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

"I'm scared," Fire Pig whispered to no one in particular.

"Uh… Well, uh," the grunt began slowly. He was apparently at a loss for words, and he looked over at the other three grunts who were still surrounding Danny and her Pokémon. He stepped back, and the other three followed his lead, making room for Danny and her Pokémon. "We'll let you go by, but only because we don't have any Pokémon to fight with! Hah!"

Without another word, Danny walked by the grunts, heading to the next staircase, her Pokémon following after her. Doc had apparently calmed down from her psychotic attack.

The next floor, however, was much brighter, and as soon as Danny reached the top of the stairs, she felt a cool breeze go by. She walked down the short hall, where she headed out into the next room…

Where N stood with a dragon Pokémon.

* * *

Author's Notes: Doc's like an angry black woman. *shot*

By the way, you should go type is "Wryyyyyy meme" on Youtube. Yeah. I don't know what else to say.


	51. Chapter Fifty

Author's Notes: I find it appropriate that this chapter comes out as number 50, considering blahblahblah. Yeah. Fifty chapters in and I still haven't finished. Well, Hoenn Tales was 76 chapters, including the epilogue and prologue. I clearly have something for long stories. Derp.

My spellcheck suggests the word "rehire" for "Reshiram."

I forgot to mention English names for the previous chapter, but whatever. I'm too lazy right now.

* * *

Chapter Fifty

The dragon Pokémon that stood next to N was gigantic. It was white, and where its arms were, there were also long, feather-like wings. Its eyes shone blue, and sharp teeth could be seen from its mouth. Mist surrounded the Pokémon, though where in the world the mist came from was unknown.

"Dayumn, that's a big fella," Fire Pig quietly muttered under his breath.

Danny, on the other hand, was completely speechless. She felt her heart beating faster, and a cold sweat started appearing. Before she noticed it, she could barely stand, and as she abruptly fell to her knees, Fire Pig and Doc both managed to catch her.

"Hello, Danny, and her Pokémon," N began, "As you can see, there's a new hero now, who shall lead this world. I've become friends with Reshiram _without_ having to fight it. Amazing, isn't it?"

"W… Why? Why are you…"

N looked at Danny like she had just asked him if he was a woman. "Why? You're asking why I'm doing this? Isn't it simple? With this Pokémon by my side, we shall head to the Pokémon League and overcome the champion, becoming the strongest trainer in the Isshu region! And then, everyone will have to listen to me when I order everyone to release their Pokémon!"

N paused his talking to look at Danny, who was busy trying not to pass out. "…Are you afraid of Reshiram?"

"No."

"Yes, okay, if that's what you say," N said with a shrug. He turned towards Reshiram and patted its side. "No one will be able to stop us now, because no one will be able to surpass Reshiram's superior power!"

Suddenly, though, Reshiram jumped into the air, flying up into the sky. N watched Reshiram soar into the sky, and then he turned back to Danny and her Pokémon.

"…You know, there _is_ a way to stop us. You, too, can also become a hero… that's right! There's _another_ Pokémon that's coupled with Reshiram… Zekrom! It's resting somewhere here in the Isshu region… but can you find it, much less _catch_ it?"

Tiger randomly shuffled forwards to stand in front of Danny. He appeared to be grumbling something, though it was completely unintelligible and impossible to understand. N seemed to be listening to what Tiger had to say, and now had a frown on his face.

"What? I can't understand you… You're saying you like frosted flakes or you know Bill Gates? What?"

Tiger continued muttering things.

"…Oh. I see, you're going to stop us? Yes, yes, I'd like to see that happen," N said and nodded. "Whatever. I predict that the future will begin to change once you meet Zekrom… and, oddly, I have a feeling that you will. Even so, I hope you won't try to interfere with our plans. It'll only end badly for you.

"But, of course, in order to awaken Zekrom, you'll need to find the Dark Stone, wherever that may be. But, regardless, I'll be waiting… for you and all of your silly little friends."

Without another word, N started walking away, though there was really nowhere to go on the roof of the tower. But then, suddenly, Reshiram came swooping down, plucked N up from the ground and started flying off.

Danny heard the sound of footsteps coming up the staircase nearby and glanced up to see Hachiku, Cheren, and Touya finally arriving at the roof. They ran out to where Danny sat, and Hachiku glanced off in the direction N and Reshiram had went off in.

"…Danny," Touya began, "What was that just now…?"

"I can't believe it!" Hachiku shouted to no one in particular. He'd walked out to where N had just been standing, and was still staring off in the direction Reshiram had flown in.

Cheren held out a hand to Danny and pulled her up from the ground. "Danny, you okay?"

"I… I think so…"

"Was that N just now? Was he with the legendary Pokémon? Don't tell me… he seriously became the hero of the Isshu region? Danny, was he with-"

"Calm down!" Hachiku snapped, whirling around to face Cheren, Danny, and Touya. "This is definitely a bad situation. The worst case scenario, to be exact. There's no need to interrogate Danny. Your questions are just rhetorical. But there's one question I need to ask… Danny. Did N mention where he was going?"

"Um… He said he was going to overcome the champion? So… the Pokémon League, maybe?"

Hachiku didn't say another word. Instead, he motioned for the three of them to follow him, and he walked down the stairs silently. Cheren, Danny, Touya, and all of Danny's Pokémon followed after him as they began making their way down through the tower.

Once they reached the first floor and left the tower, heading out through the tree-like gate, they saw that Papa Araragi was waiting outside, along with Belle, Touko, Pearl, Brendan, and Iris.

While Hachiku started telling everyone everything that'd just happened, Pearl walked up to Cheren, Touya, and Danny and started muttering over the scratches and scrapes that covered their bodies.

Finally, once Hachiku finished talking, they were all silent. Papa Araragi was the first one to break the extremely uncomfortable silence. "…I'm horrified. I can't believe he actually woke up the legendary dragon Pokémon."

"I can't believe that Team Plasma's boss, of all people, got a hold of it…" Cheren muttered.

"But… aren't there two legendary dragon Pokémon?" Belle asked.

"Ahh, yes, that's correct!"

Nearly everyone jumped at the sound of someone else's voice, and they turned around to see that Adeku was walking towards them.

"Oh, Adeku, it's been a while!" Papa Araragi exclaimed. "Are you doing well?"

"I'm doing fine, but right now, we're dealing with a serious situation. The world is in danger at the power of that Pokémon." Adeku's face was grim as he continued talking, "That's why we're gathered out here, right now. For this talk.

"People will begin to become afraid if they find out the legendary Pokémon has awakened, especially at the hands of Team Plasma. That's why we have to work to make sure that they don't succeed in using that Pokémon's power to separate people and Pokémon."

Papa Araragi nodded. "Yes, that's true. But that N boy has Reshiram, correct? Shouldn't we work on finding the other legendary Pokémon?"

"Right. The other dragon Pokémon, the other one that's paired with Reshiram, is asleep somewhere in this region. What was its name again…?"

Danny answered, "I think N said that it was Zekrom…?"

"Sorry to interrupt…" Belle began slowly. "But isn't everyone in danger? Shouldn't we, like, be preparing for… um… bad things?"

"We don't really know what's going to happen, so we can't really say what we should be preparing for," Adeku said. "But… our current problem is with Reshiram. Where did N go with it? Rather, where in the world did N find the stone necessary to wake it? We also need to make sure that he doesn't get a hold of the other stone… if he awakened the other one as well, then that'll make things worse."

No one said anything for a moment, and so Adeku started talking yet again, "I'm going to continue searching for clues around the region… Oh! That's right, the Ancient Castle! We may find a clue to finding Zekrom there!"

Papa Araragi nodded some more. "Yes, that sounds like an excellent idea! I'll leave it to you all, then. In the meantime, I'm going to take a look at the Dragon Spiral Tower."

Hachiku turned towards Papa Araragi, finally speaking. "In that case, I'll go with you."

Without another word, both Papa Araragi and Hachiku began walking back towards the Dragon Spiral Tower, leaving the children and Adeku behind.

Cheren fixed his glasses a bit. "…I think we should head to the Ancient Castle right away. Adeku, I'll come with you."

"Sure thing! You guys, make sure to come along, too!"

Cheren and Adeku started walking off somewhere, leaving Pearl, Brendan, Danny, Touya, Touko, Belle, and Iris behind.

"This is a really big problem, isn't it?" Belle quietly asked. "But… you know, I think we should try to be superheros, like the ones you see in movies, who save the entire world! That'd be so cool, right?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Danny said. "And then, we'll be heroes and get all the girls and… no, wait, what am I saying? I messed that up… We'll be heroes, and get all the badges and Pokémon! There! That makes more sense!"

Pearl glanced down at Iris. "Where's the Ancient Castle at, anyways?"

"It's located near Route 4, in the Resort Desert."

"Ohhh…" Pearl said slowly. And then, an evil grin crossed her face and she started laughing. "Ohoho, now I know why Cheren left with Adeku! He doesn't want to be stuck there with me again! HOHOHO! Cheren, Cheren, Cheren, you're such a silly rabbit! I'll follow you to the ends of the earth, even if you don't want me too!"

And then, Pearl started slurping, and the other six desperately tried to pretend they didn't know who Pearl was.


	52. Chapter Fifty One

Author's Notes: Okay. I only recently realized that those sand pits/quicksand only activate when you run while crossing them. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why that happened, and then I tried not pressing the B button and... it worked. I'm realllllyyyy slow at realizing these kinds of things.

Which reminds me. When I was in 6th grade, one of my classmates dropped his ice cream on the ground and he tried picking up as much of it as he could so he could still eat it. Everyone (a.k.a. all the girls in my class and my teacher) were kinda grossed out, but I thought it was funny. As did most of the boys.

I don't know why I just mentioned that, but whatever. Thanks for the reviews, as usual. You make me so happy with your reviews that I could cry manly tears of MANLINESS.

* * *

Chapter Fifty-One

It took nearly 2 hours to fly to Raimon City, and an hour or so to finally reach the Ancient Castle. It really was easy to get lost in the desert, since the scenery never really changed from the sandy desert. The never-ending sandstorm was still raging, of course, and that just made things worse.

"…Pearl?" Danny randomly began as they walked through the desert.

"What?"

"Do you have a bag?"

Pearl looked at her suspiciously. "Yeah, and I've packed it with lots of food and water, so we won't die!… Why are you asking that, though?"

"Because I forgot I had this in my pocket," Danny answered, holding out her hand and showing Pearl what she had just taken out of her pocket.

It was the purple cake thing that Papa Araragi had given her, and that she'd apparently shoved into her pocket after she got it. Now, hours later, and having been crushed to death inside the pocket, the cake was crushed, and for some reason, it was melting.

"Ew, what _is_ that?"

"Something Papa Araragi gave me. Can I put it in your bag?"

"No! Look, it's inedible now, so get rid of it!"

To accentuate her words, Pearl walked over to Danny and smacked the destroyed cake thing out of her hand. It fell to the ground with a nasty sounding _plop_, and Danny stood there staring at the cake as Pearl turned around and continued walking with Belle, Brendan, Iris, Touko, and Touya.

"My Old Gateau…"

They continued walking on, until Pearl noticed that Danny wasn't walking with them, and stopped to turn around. Danny was still standing there, staring at her cake blob sadly, and now was bending down and…

"DON'T EAT IT!" Pearl shrieked, charging towards Danny, who was indeed picking up a piece of the cake blob and was about to put it in her mouth. Pearl was still stomping over to her, and so Danny quickly put the piece in her mouth and started chewing.

"Open your mouth!" Pearl demanded as she came to a stop in front of Danny.

"N-no…"

"DANNY. YOU BETTER SPIT THAT THING OUT _RIGHT NOW_."

And then, Danny swallowed it. And Pearl just stared at her. She stared, and stared, and stared at Danny, who just looked back at her with a blank look. Finally, Pearl grabbed Danny's arm and started walking back to the others, who were waiting for Pearl and Danny.

"Did that thing taste good?" Belle asked once Pearl and Danny reached them.

"It was kinda sandy."

"That was seriously gross," Iris simply said in response to this.

After a while, though, the desert scenery finally began to change. Five blue things could be seen in the distance, and then Pearl started laughing like a creeper while she still held onto Danny's arm.

"Oh, this place brings back memories… Hee-hee."

Once they got even closer to it, they saw the stone staircase that headed down underground. Which just prompted more creepy laughing from Pearl. Just as they reached the staircase, though, someone shouted out to them: "Guys, STOP!"

"Oh… it's Cheren?"

Sure enough, Cheren was walking towards them as fast as he could. He'd apparently taken off his jacket and wrapped it around his head like a turban, leaving only his eyes uncovered.

"You look stupid," Brendan said and Pearl elbowed him in the side.

"The Ancient Castle's below us," Cheren said as soon as he reached them. "But… you guys are amazing. How the heck did you reach this place before me?"

And Pearl replied as passionately as she could, "I was rapidly pursuing _you_, Cheren, my dearest capturing buddy! You thought you could escape from the great Pearl Birch? I can track you by your scent, you know!"

Cheren stared at Pearl with a horrified expression, but quickly recovered and turned towards everyone else instead. "Uh… anyways. Adeku went on ahead, so he should be somewhere down there. Let's go… Pearl, stop slurping like that, it's gross."

"Speaking of gross," Touko started as they headed down the stairs, "Danny ate the Old Gateau she dropped in the sand. Did you pass it when you came here?"

Cheren just stared at Danny and said, "That's disgusting."

Down underneath, there was still lots of sand, but it was apparently unaffected by the sandstorm. The walls, and roof, were completely made of stone, and there were plenty of sand pits all around. People wandered around, apparently having nothing else better to do than just stand there blankly.

"Be careful of the quicksand," Cheren warned, taking the lead as he walked through the large room. He turned around a corner, finding a flight of stone stairs going farther down underneath. "Guys, here's some stairs…"

Walking down the stairs and heading even farther underground, they arrived at a much smaller room, where an old man in funny looking robes stood… in other words, one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma

Brendan screamed like a little girl. "Why are you down here?"

"Lord Geechisu has a cause!"

"This is terrible translating."

"What was that, Brendan?"

"Lord Geechisu wishes to test the limits of your power! Team Plasma wishes to test the limits of your power!"

"Wait…" Brendan pointed at himself. "You wanna test my limits? Listen, buddy, there's lots of people here right now… you gotta use names when you're talking to someone in particular!"

"You."

"Me?"

"No. You."

"Who?"

"YOU."

"Can I leave yet?"

"No, you."

"Will you freaking stop it?"

"YOU."

Brendan finally decided to be smart and just went to sit on the stairs, ignoring the old man and everyone else. The old man had also gone silent, and wasn't saying a word now. Apparently, he'd finished his job of driving Brendan crazy.

"Come on, Brendan," Iris said, grabbing Brendan's arm and yanking him up from the stairs. They walked past the old man, who just let them pass by without another word, which made them wonder why the hell he stopped them in the first place. At the end of the hall, though, there stood a Plasma grunt.

"I'm gonna test your limits, man!"

"What? Who're you talking to?"

"Uh… you!"

Brendan pushed past everyone in front of him to walk up to the grunt. "I'm sooooo gonna kick your ass, you."

And so, Brendan defeated the grunt in a little under a minute. Unfortunately, there was really no where else to go except for the sand pit where the grunt had been standing guard at. Brendan's Swampert was the first one to fall in, because he was stupid, and he dragged Touya along with him, because Touya happened to be near him. Everyone decided that they had to follow them down through the pit because that seemed to be the only way to progress through the Ancient Castle.

Not because Touya and Swampert fell through and they wanted to go rescue them.

After Pearl dropped through the sand pit last, they were in yet another room full of sand, sand pits, and, oh yeah, Team Plasma grunts.

"One of these things is not like the other… one of these things just doesn't belong!"

* * *

"By the way, Danny, something's been bothering me ever since we left the Sekka City gym."

"What is it?"

"When those super ninja guys appeared, you started screaming something about wanting to get revenge…?"

"Oh, yeah. They dropped me on the floor back in the Electric Rock Cave and pissed me off. I've sworn to get revenge on them for that. I'd like to get a kick or punch in, that'd be good enough."

"Oh."

Everyone was busy enough battling Team Plasma grunts and trying not to fall down the wrong sand pit, so Belle was the only one who really heard Danny's explanation. Apparently, they were the only ones still having a completely normal conversation while they fell down through the sand to the floor below.

"Okay," Pearl began as they gathered back together in yet another room. "As we've already seen with our human sacrifices Swampert and Touya-"

"I'm not a human," Swampert chimed in.

"-some of these pits don't seem to be leading us to the right area. I think the places we should be going to are guarded by those Plasma grunts."

"Yeah, that's not quite right, either. As we've already seen with our human sacrifice Pearl."

"Hm, yeah, I'm gonna be picking sand out of certain areas for the next few weeks."

"Too much information there, Pearl. Waaaaay too much information."

And so, they encountered two more Plasma grunts because they were talking too loudly and gave away their location. Brendan easily defeated them with his MAD SKILLZ.

"Hmm… I think," Danny began and pointed off at a nearby sand pit, where the two grunts Brendan had just battled had come from, "We should go down that one next."

"Why? Are you sure we haven't gone through that one already?"

"Well, my spidey sense is telling me so."

"Uh… how reliable is this spidey sense?"

"I'd say 99.99 percent accurate."

Belle nodded in agreement. "Yeah! When it comes to picking things, Danny's, like, always right! Seriously!"

Pearl seemed to be considering whether Danny's random percentage was decent enough when Danny, Belle, and Touko simply decided to walk on over to the pit and start falling through it. "…Hey? I'm talking, don't be sliding down sand pits in the middle of my talking!"

"Technically," Brendan interrupted, "you were talking just now. You were silently talking to yourself, and so I'm going to follow them before you kick my ass."

Before Pearl could decipher what Brendan had just said, he, Touya, and Cheren headed to that pit as well, sliding down through it and leaving Pearl and Iris standing there. The two glanced at each other unsurely before deciding to simply follow them.

And so, they headed down to the floor beneath them…


	53. Chapter Fifty Two

_Author's Notes_: I enjoyed writing this chapter much more than I should have. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but during that internet-less time, I actually finished this story. But I decided to rewrite all those chapters I'd written. Because, yeah. By the way, I don't even know if anyone cares, but I'm actually writing a sequel for this. Which is, yeah.

Brendan's even awesomer than usual in this chapter.

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Two

It was a good thing that Pearl hadn't decided to bet any money against Danny's choice, because Danny's choice was correct. This room was much different than the other ones, though it was still covered in sand. However, Adeku was there, as was Geechisu.

"Guys, you're here!" Adeku said as Iris and Pearl finally dropped down to the floor. "Come on over here."

"ROGER!"

The eight of them hurried through the sand and stood alongside Adeku, leaving Geechisu standing there in front of them.

"You certainly took your time getting here, but it appears as though everyone is here?" Geechisu began talking like they were all best buddies or something like that. "You're all working hard to try and revive Zekrom, aren't you?"

"We most certainly are not!" Danny lied.

"…Right. Either way, the Dark Stone that you're searching for here-"

"Wait, we came here to search for the Dark Stone?" Pearl whispered.

"It's so awesome that it needs to be capitalized," Brendan added. "Oh, sorry, Dennis. Go on."

Geechisu seemed slightly annoyed by Brendan calling him Dennis, but he simply decided to ignore it and took a step towards them. "Well, then… Danny, congratulations!"

"H-huh? Congratulations?" Danny looked back at her friends, freaking out. "For what? I didn't do anything special, did I?"

"Danny, you were chosen by our king. If you wish to keep this world as it currently is, where Pokémon live alongside people, you must catch the other legendary dragon Pokémon and battle with our king."

"Uh…" Danny simply shook her head and looked over at Touya. "Um, maybe Touya should do it? I think N's gay for him."

"What? Don't push it off on me! Uh… Brendan! You do it instead, you're way stronger than the rest of us!"

Geechisu was quick to interrupt, "Oh, no, no, no! We can't have that! Our king specifically said 'not that white-haired boy! I hate him!'"

Brendan just grinned like the smug guy he was.

"And then, after you surely lose the battle," Geechisu continued, "Team Plasma will take every Pokémon from every single person in the world and release them!"

"Release them, huh?" Adeku asked. "What about the Pokémon who live with their trainers? Whoever said that every single Pokémon in the world wants that? And are you really rescuing Pokémon when you steal them from their trainers?"

"Oho, what's this?" Geechisu began.

Brendan snorted. "He said, 'oho'… pfft…"

"The champion, Adeku, speaks! But, if my memory serves correct… isn't this the same Adeku whose longtime partner Pokémon died from an illness? The one who left the Pokémon League in the care of the Elite Four, just so he could wander around the Isshu region for no apparent reason? This very same champion wishes to protect the world where Pokémon and humans live together?

"Team Plasma's king will show everyone that he's a much better champion once he easily defeats you. And, much like the hero of Isshu, he will be accompanied by the legendary Pokémon. Then, as the strongest trainer in the region, he'll order everyone to release their Pokémon!"

"I'm sorry," Brendan interrupted, "but I stopped listening somewhere around the champion Adeku part."

Adeku had remained silent even as Geechisu said all the above things. "…I won't lose! I'll fight for all the trainers who love their Pokémon, and for the Pokémon that love their trainers!"

Geechisu just stared at Adeku like he had three heads. "…I believe I understand now why our king has no interest in you at all. Your thoughts are simple and predictable… no wonder his victory against you in assured."

"Why are you here anyways? To tell me that? You think I didn't already know that I'm stupid?"

Several of them started giggling quietly, but neither Geechisu nor Adeku seemed to hear their laughter.

"Of course not," Geechisu answered, still staring at Adeku, but no longer like he had three heads. "I'm doing this out of kindness. To watch as the champion slowly realizes that there's no hope left, and that he should just give up… that's a wonderful-"

"Can I leave yet?" Brendan interrupted like the subtle guy he is.

"Well then, good day to you all," Geechisu abruptly ended, and started walking around the group, heading out of the castle through some sort of exit.

Once he was gone and out of sight, Cheren started talking. "Mr. Adeku, what should we do now?"

"Hmm…" Adeku grumbled, rubbing his chin. "I guess the only thing left for me to do is to head back to the Pokémon League and await N's challenge."

"Huh? I thought the Pokémon League was only open during the autumn and winter?"

"To be exact, it opens up at the end of this month… but do you really think something like that is going to stop N from barging on in with that Pokémon of his?… But in any case, I wonder where Team Plasma's base is? And, more importantly, where's the Dark Stone if it isn't here?"

"Can I leave yet?" Brendan asked again.

"Alright, everyone!" Adeku randomly clapped his hands together, getting everyone's attention. "Let's get out of here! It's a race to the top!"

"A race? Ooh, okay! On your marks, get set, GO!"

* * *

When everyone finally arrived at the top of the Ancient Castle, out in the Resort Desert, nearly all of them were exhausted. Except for Brendan, who made sure he took his time getting up there because he was awesome like that.

"Ahem…" Adeku began after finally catching his breath. "I'm still wondering, though… what could that N boy want? Why does he want the legendary dragon Pokémon to battle? To prove he's right?"

"I'm… hungry," Brendan said.

"My god, you never shut up, do you?" Iris snapped. Predictably, Brendan ignored her, and just stared off at nowhere in particular.

Just then, something began ringing. Everyone looked at one another, and then they all turned to Touko, who was apparently the source of the ringing noise. Touko suddenly realized that the ringing was coming from her wrist, and she held it out and pressed a button on the device. Professor Araragi's face appeared.

"Hey, guys!" she shouted. "Guys! Guys! Guys! Hello, you guys?"

"We're not deaf, woman! We can hear you!"

"Oh… sorry, bad connection for a moment! Anyways, you guys? I need you to come to Shippou City's museum! Right now, okay? Like, really, right now!"

And the Live Caster call ended as quickly as it'd appeared.

Adeku was the first one to talk, saying, "I could hear Professor Araragi's voice from over here. Sounds like something urgent, huh? The Shippou City Museum…? Huh. Well, I'll be going ahead, then!"

Before they could object, Adeku sent out some kind of unidentifiable flying Pokémon, or a UFP, and hopped onto its back, flying off into the sandstorm and leaving them all behind.

"…How dare he not offer us a ride!" Brendan exclaimed, sounding very offended at Adeku's actions.

"That's okay, though! We got Pearly's Pokémon, right?"

Pearl started laughing heroically. "That's right! Pearly will save the… wait a sec. Don't call me Pearly!"

"We've done wayyyy too much today…" Brendan whined. "This is child abuse. I want my lawyer. I'm tired. If I'm exhausted from all of this, then that must mean that simple-minded people like Belle and Danny are on the brink of death."

Danny sighed, wiping her forehead with her hand. "He's right! I'm exhausted!"

"What's simple-minded mean, though?" Belle asked, looking completely confused.

Brendan answered, "It means you have the mind of a Bidoof."

"Oh." Belle seemed to understand what Brendan meant. By that time, though, Pearl was already sending out several Pokémon for everyone to fly on. "By the way," Belle continued as she hopped onto the back of one of these Pokémon, "What's a Bidoof?"

* * *

_Author's Notes_: I swear, these children are overworked even more than their Pokemon are. It really sucks when your DS's battery is on the brink of dying and you can't find your charger and none of the damn characters will stop freaking talking and then wham the game dies and I have to go through the damn scene all over again.

Remember, kiddies, save often! *shot*


	54. Chapter Fifty Three

_Author's Notes_: I actually made a couple pages of comics detailing this scene. But then I spilled fruit punch all over the drawings that I had laid out, and I screamed heroically while my sister told me to shut the hell up and-

We all know the only reason Professor Araragi wants you to be careful is so she can get more Pokedex information from you. All professors have ulterior motives for the player character's safety. Nuff said, yo.

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Three

By the time they reached Shippou City, it was night. And, of course, Brendan complained the entire time there. After they returned the Pokémon to their Poké Balls, Pearl, Brendan, Danny, Belle, Cheren, Iris, Touko, and Touya began heading from the Pokémon Center to the museum that was up ahead.

And, out in front of the museum was Professor Araragi, her father, and Adeku.

"I hate you guys," Brendan said upon reaching them. No one seemed to hear his comment even though he'd proudly stated it.

"I've heard everything from Adeku," Professor Araragi began as she put her hands into her lab coat's pockets. "Guys… this is trouble, really big trouble. And you all ended up getting involved in it…"

Before Professor Araragi, or anyone else, for that matter, could go on, someone came out of the museum. Danny instantly recognized the person as Aloe, the Gym Leader there. Aloe took one glance over everyone there and said, "What's going on out here?… No, never mind, I already know. It's about the dragon Pokémon, isn't it?"

Papa Araragi was shocked. "Er… Well, you see, just earlier when I was investigating the Dragon Spiral Tower, I found that some of the things there happened to match the exact same era of the Dark Stone… the very one that lies here in your museum!"

"And so," Professor Araragi started, turning to look at Aloe, "please tell us."

"…Heh… I expected this," Aloe said with a sigh.

"Miss Aloe, back at that time when Team Plasma invaded the museum…"

"…Yes. It's just as you think; they were after the legendary dragon Pokémon. But instead, they stole the Dragonite bones."

Brendan snorted. "What a bunch of idiots." He noticed the glares that Pearl and Iris were sending him, and surprisingly remained silent.

Aloe suddenly took a few steps forwards, walking up to the trainer closest to her… who just happened to be Danny. Reaching into her apron's pocket, Aloe said, "And so… Danny, you can take this."

"Wait a second!" Adeku interrupted, and everyone turned to stare at him. "…Danny. No, not just you… Danny, Cheren, Belle, Touko, Touya, Iris, Pearl, and Brendan…"

"Why does my name come last…?" Brendan muttered. This time, Pearl stomped on his foot.

"By taking that Dark Stone, you'll have to battle N if anything happens to me. Are you okay with that?"

Danny was silent for a moment. She turned to glance at her friends. "…Um… guys…"

"It's your decision," Pearl said. "After all, _you're_ the one taking the Dark Stone, aren't you? You're the one that N supposedly picked to battle him and that Reshi-whatever. It's not our choice. It's yours, kiddo."

Danny seemed to think for a quick moment, took in a deep breath, and looked back up at Aloe and Adeku. "…I'm okay with that. I'll battle N if anything happens to you, Mr. Adeku. I'll take the Dark Stone."

Adeku grinned. "Alright, then. You seem determined to take on this duty… Then, go ahead. Be strong."

Danny randomly saluted him as Aloe finally took out the stone and handed it to Danny. It was black… hence the name Dark Stone. It looked like there were two indentations on its top, but other than that, it was just a stone. Danny held it in both hands and stared at it. No one said a thing.

Finally, though, Papa Araragi broke the silence. "So… now what? How do we awaken Zekrom from the Dark Stone?"

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Er…"

Apparently, no one seemed to know the most important thing, and the adults just stared at each other in confusion while Brendan muttered smartass remarks under his breath. Finally, Aloe seemed to think of something and looked back at Adeku.

"Uh… there's, you know, that person! That person might know something!"

Adeku seemed to suddenly know what Aloe was talking about. "That's right! There's that person! You kids! Go to Souryuu City! The Gym Leader there trains dragon Pokémon. He might know something… And so, I'll go on ahead, to Souryuu City! I'll be seeing you soon!"

Before anyone could object, Adeku sent out a Pokémon and flew up on into the night sky.

"That bastard didn't offer us a ride _again_!" Brendan muttered.

"…Oh!" Professor Araragi's eyes widened and she seemed to remember something. "That's right! Souryuu City's Shaga! That's who he's talking about!"

"What kind of name is Shaga…?"

"…Danny, Brendan, Pearl, Touko, Touya, Cheren, Belle, and Iris," Papa Araragi said, stating each of their names just because he could. "You kids be careful, and make sure to take care of your Pokémon, okay?"

"Whatever problems ahead of you that you may face, I'm sure you guys can do it!" Professor Araragi added with a big grin. "And… it'll help my research, too!~"

"Oh, damn, I knew she had ulterior motives!"

"Once a professor, always a professor…"

"Heehee! Oh, you guys should rest for the night here at the Pokémon Center, okay~?"

"What an evil, cruel professor! EVIL!"

Eventually, though, Pearl led them away from the museum to head back to the Pokémon Center. Of course, no one even noticed the fact that Iris stayed behind, standing there with Aloe, Papa Araragi, and Professor Araragi. Once Iris was sure they wouldn't hear her, she turned back to them.

"Thanks for not giving away my little secret!~"

"Not a problem! I figured they didn't know, so I didn't say anything!"

"I'm sure they'll be really surprised when they find out!"

"Yep!" Iris quickly bowed and said, "Thanks, again! And good night!" before turning around and running after her friends.

* * *

After spending the night at the Shippou Pokémon Center, the eight of them left the building and flew back to Sekka City. Of course, this took a long time, and once they were in Sekka City they decided to stop for lunch before heading out to the route north of the city, which was just as wet and muddy as Sekka City was. Actually, it was even more than the city, because where the city had the buildings up on the higher ground, the route didn't.

And so, Danny, Belle, and Touko made sure to splash in ever giant puddle they saw.

And, of course, Pokémon tended to live in these puddles, and the three of them soon fell behind their cruel friends who didn't bother to wait for them as they battled wild Pokémon.

However cruel their friends may be, they did decide to wait for Belle, Touko, and Danny once they reached a tall, gray, building. Pearl had decided to take a look around it and saw that it led out to a long, metal bridge that crossed over the water below.

Rain soon enough began to fall, and that was when Pearl, Brendan, Cheren, Touya, and Iris just decided to wait inside the building for their friends, who really were taking their time getting there. Within a couple of minutes, though, Touko, Belle, and Danny ran on into the building, soaking wet and exhausted.

"Ten years later…" Brendan mumbled in an announcer-like voice. Touya snorted, trying to cover his laughter.

"Hi, guys," Touko simply said, taking a look around the inside of the building. She pointed ahead. "LET'S GO!"

"It's raining," Touya answered.

Touko looked up in surprise and cupped a hand behind her ear. "Hey, guys, did you hear that voice just now…?"

"Danny, give me one of your Pokémon to wear on my head."

Danny saluted and took out a Poké Ball, letting out Ed… who did not look like Ed. Sure, he was still a green blob with a smaller body inside, but he was shaped differently, and the little body inside the blob had tiny arms.

"Whoa, when did Ed evolve?"

"Back on the route just now…"

"Wait… you mean Ed can actually _battle_?"

Ed had floated on over to Touya and sat down on top of his cap. Touko looked in his direction and screamed. "Oh, my god! Touya, when did you… no way, were you the voice I heard?"

Touya sighed and smacked his forehead, which caused Ed to explode from the pure excitement of the current scene. Danny was kind enough to pluck the blob Ed off Touya's hat and put it on her own shoulder.

They waited in the building until the rain stopped, and then they headed out to the bridge that lay ahead of them… the Cylinder Bridge, which, despite its name, was not a cylinder. In fact, it was mostly made of metal bars of various shapes and sizes all hooked together. Underneath the area they came out on, subway trains passed by.

Either way, the bridge just looked dangerous. There were plenty of opens spaces where you could get your foot stuck on, and some of it, mostly around the area they just exited from, was drenched from the rain.

"It's a race!" Danny suddenly shouted. She pointed at the end of the bridge, which seemed really far away. "To the end of the bridge! Whoever gets there first wins! So, on your mark, get set, go, go, gooooo!"

Only Touko, Belle, Danny, and for some reason, Touya, had started running down the bridge. Touya gave up not too long after and just started walking, whistling some song as he watched the other three girls run. Touko and Belle kept on tripping because they're graceful like that, but somehow, Danny was running faster than them. Ed had, at some point, recovered from his puddle form and was now holding onto Danny's head for his dear, dear life.

"WOOHOO! THIS IS AWESOME!" Danny screamed. She looked back over her shoulder, where Belle had once again fallen over and was being helped up by Touko. "GUYS, COME ON!"

Belle looked up and waved at Danny. But then, a scared expression crossed over her face, and she started pointing. "D-Danny! In front of you! Watch out!"

Danny turned around to look ahead of herself, where she just barely caught a glimpse of Geechisu, of all people, and then she ran into something. Three people had appeared out of thin air, and Danny had just run into them.

Ed exploded from the awesome excitement of this new situation.

* * *

_Author's Notes_: OH SNAP! *shot* By the way, Shaga's English name is Drayden. If you can say the name Shaga and not laugh, then... uh... maybe I just find everything to be funny. Cylinder Bridge is called the Tubeline Bridge, and Souryuu City is Opelucid City. And I thought that, the entire time I ran down the Cylinder Bridge, that those were cars and trucks running by below. Turns out that it was actually a train, according to Bulbapedia.


	55. Chapter Fifty Four

_Author's Notes_: Because my initial translation of this chapter had been so bad and silly looking, I just decided to go along with the English version of the things Geechisu says. Though I altered it a bit.

I honestly wished that someone would throw a Mamepato (whose English name is Pidove, derp.) and make Geechisu stop with this ridiculously long talking scenes. Seriously, man, I just want to get to the Pokémon Center in Souryuu! And they make it even harder by adding another scene as soon as you get into the city! MAN, I DON'T CARRY MY CHARGER WITH ME WHEN I'M IN THE CAR, DAMMIT!

Yes, another one of those instances where I lacked my charger. Derp. On another note, thanks to Light-Sakura and Pokefan102 for reviewing.

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Four

"…"

"REVENGE! I WANT REVENGEEEE!"

"…Come."

"NO, I WANT REVENGE!"

But, of course, the Dark Trinity didn't listen to Danny's shouts, and two of them grabbed her by her arms and dragged her the rest of the way across the bridge, over to where Geechisu stood. Ed was still on top of Danny's head, albeit as a puddle.

"Lord Geechisu, please take this," one of them said as they came to a stop with Danny hissing like a crazy cat. They didn't say another word, and disappeared, but quickly reappeared behind Geechisu.

"REVENGEEEE!" Danny shrieked, pointing at the Dark Trinity and hissing. Apparently, revenge was the only word in her vocabulary at the moment.

"It appears as though you have the Dark Stone!" Geechisu began with, again with that casual "we're all best buddies" tone of voice that he typically spoke with. "I congratulate you on a job well done."

"YOU CAN CONGRATULATE ME WHEN I GET MY_ REVENNNGEEEE_!"

Geechisu stared at Danny like there was something wrong with her head but continued talking, starting to pace back and forth. "My Lord N believes that the two owners of the legendary dragon Pokémon should put their believes on the line and fight in order to find which one is the true hero… Or that's what he says, at least. Are you even listening to me?"

Danny had finally quieted down and now stood there with an angry look on her face, mumbling her favorite word under her breath. Ed still hadn't recovered from his explosion and was on Danny's head like a green hat.

"Ahem… I don't believe that's necessary, though. From the day he was born, I have provided him with the education required to be the legendary hero. And finally, he has been acknowledged by the legendary Pokémon… You _still_ aren't listening to me."

"Sorry," Danny answered, currently having a finger in her ear. "Sorry, my ear's are starting to clog up… Oh, no, wait, sorry! That's because you're giving me a speech on a noisy bridge that has subway trains running by below!"

"The liberation of which I… no, of which Team Plasma speaks of is the separation of Pokémon from foolish people! That is the truth! All trainers will become helpless without Pokémon to…" Geechisu trailed off as he stared at Ed, who'd finally recovered from his blob form and was staring back at Geechisu. Geechisu blinked and Ed exploded again.

"…Where was I again?"

"Lord Geechisu, you were talking about the trainer being helpless."

"…Right. Only Team Plasma will be the remaining ones with Pokémon! And the preparations are complete! Once my perfect plan is in motion, the first ones to release their Pokémon will be the gullible trainers who…" Geechisu paused again to stare at Danny, who had returned to cleaning her ears with her pinky finger. "Please listen to what I have to say."

"Can you just get on with it already? You're boring me to death. You already bored Ed to death just by blinking."

"The first ones to release their Pokémon will be the gullible trainers who're unable to resist Team Plasma, and-"

Geechisu never got to finish his sentence because something gray flew past Danny and slammed into his face, and then it flopped to the ground. Whatever it was, though, it quickly hopped up and stared up at Geechisu and the Dark Trinity with a dopey look on its face.

"It's Ditzy Bird!" Danny happily shouted. "You came to rescue me from this creepy guy? Oh, wait, in that case, allow me to pass on my need for revenge to you… get those ninja guys!"

But alas, this was Ditzy Bird she was talking to, so it only sat there with a dopey look on its face, unaware of its surroundings. For the quickest moment, it seemed to notice Danny, but then its mind went blank and it forgot.

Brendan finally reached where Danny was, but walked right on past her and said, "I'm so awesome that I can just walk past you guys and ignore this entire cutscene!"

He didn't get too far, though, before the Dark Trinity surrounded him and dragged him back to where Danny was.

"…Or so I'd like to do, but for the time being, I'll stay here and listen!"

Geechisu had recovered from the Awesome Strike of Ditzy Bird and coughed into his hand a couple of times before starting to talk again. "…Let's continue where we left off."

"Sounds sexy," Brendan said. Ditzy Bird's beak opened up and it stared at Brendan with what was apparently a shocked expression.

"Not just one, not just two trainers will have to release their Pokémon. No, the numbers will increase, to hundreds, to thousands! Soon, not even the Gym Leaders or the Elite Four will be able to fight us! Having Pokémon will be considered taboo!"

"Taboo? Like drinking alcohol and then going to a parent-teacher conference?"

"Even people like the pathetic little Belle who got her Munna so easily taken away from her will release their Pokémon! That's the kind of world that's in the future!"

Geechisu suddenly stepped forwards to stand in front of Danny and Brendan. Danny was currently cleaning her ears and Brendan was offering to help.

"You may have the stone, but there's no chance whatsoever that the legendary Pokémon will acknowledge you, or any of your friends-"

"Including me?" Brendan asked and gaily blinked his eyes.

"-as a hero!"

"WHAT?" Danny shouted. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF THE TRAINS BELOW US!"

Geechisu could now only sigh and smack his forehead. "…Regardless, since it doesn't appear that any of you kids will be willing to hand over your precious Pokémon…"

Ed suddenly recovered and made some kind of bubbling noise as he stared at Geechisu curiously.

"I suggest you try and not get yourselves killed. Do your best!" Laughing fakely because Geechisu believed he was so much more awesome than Brendan was, he turned around and started walking away. The Dark Trinity parted to let him walk by them, even though Geechisu could've easily walked around them.

Suddenly, Danny got the ingenious idea to try and punch one of the Dark Trinity during this moment, so she started running after Geechisu. But then, she tripped over Ditzy Bird and fell down onto the metal bridge. When Danny looked up, all four of them were gone.

"What was _that_ just now?" Brendan asked.

"I wanted to get revenge," Danny answered as she pushed herself up. Ed had exploded at some point along the way, and Ditzy Bird didn't seem fazed by the fact that Danny just tripped over it. "Let's get going! To Souryuu City!"

"We have to wait for everyone else, who're really taking their freakin' time getting here."

It didn't take too long for the others to reach Danny and Brendan, where Touko proceeded to explain that Pearl was the one who'd thrown Ditzy Bird like a football, where Brendan proceeded to comment on his sister's manly strength and received a kick to the knee.

The exit to the next building wasn't that far ahead, and they walked on through it and headed out onto Route 9... Where they encountered the most horrific thing since they gave their Pokémon a bath.

No, not the baseball player who tossed a Poké Ball at them and then Pearl kicked his ass. No, not the big, burly guys who were riding on the road on motorcycles. No, not the skinny guys who weren't manly enough to ride on motorcycles so they just stood to the side.

No, it was the shopping mall that stood there, right on the route.

"Save yourselves!" Brendan dramatically screamed, throwing himself in front of Touko and Pearl who were staring at the shopping mall in a trance.

"Run, men, run!" Danny shouted, and she, Cheren, Iris, and Touya took off running down the road as fast as they could.

Brendan was left there, heroically sacrificing himself for his friends and now lay on the ground like road kill. Pearl and Touko were still entranced with the building, and Belle seemed completely confused as to what to do, so she just stood there with them.

The other four didn't stop running until they reached the gatehouse not that far away. At some point, Danny had begun to hold Ditzy Bird underneath her arm, and Ed was still holding onto her head for his dear life again. Either way, they ran on through the building and headed on out into Souryuu City.

The city looked weird to Danny, like some kind of futuristic thing. Bright green lights ran along through the ground, illuminating the city.

Oh, and Team Plasma was there.

"Oh, no… We don't have a Brendan with us, so we can't open a can of whoop ass on these guys…" Danny muttered, looking very disappointed about this.

"…But Champion Adeku's here," Cheren said.

"Whut?"

Right up ahead was Adeku, indeed. He spotted the four of them and made a motion for them to follow him, and he started walking over to where a crowd had gathered in front of the Team Plasma group. Danny, Cheren, Touya, and iris followed him, and they stood together with Adeku at the back of the group.

"It's that liar, Geechisu," Adeku said quietly to them. "He's here to deceive everyone again."

"Yeah, we just annoyed the hell out of him on the Cylinder Bridge," Danny whispered back. Adeku raised his eyebrows at this, but turned his attention back towards Geechisu, who was starting his crazy guy rambling.

"That's correct! Our Lord N has combined his power with the legendary dragon Pokémon and intends to create a new-"

"BOOO! YOU STINK!"

Geechisu seemed stunned, but only for a quick moment. He coughed into his hand and continued. "…This is the start of the Isshu region's legendary hero's new world!"

The crowd began whispering things to one another: "Hero? Legendary dragon? New world?"

And then a Mamepato flew out of the crowd, slamming into Geechisu's face and flopping down to the ground with a thud. The numerous Plasma grunts standing behind him mostly remained emotionless, but a couple of them looked like they'd start laughing at any moment.

"Ahem… Pokémon are different from us humans. They are living beings who hold unknown potential."

"I've recently found that Mamepato do _not_ like fried chicken."

"They are living beings from whom we humans have much to learn from."

"I've learnt to live without my fatheeerrrrr! O father, where art thou?"

"They are beings whose greatness we shall acknowledge. Beings who should be freed from our oppression!"

"O mother, where art thou?… In Sinnoh, you say? Where is this Sinnoh?"

Geechisu was clearly trying to keep his cool, which only served to entertain Danny, Cheren, Touya, and to some extent, Adeku. Iris had disappeared at some point. Meanwhile, the crowd was trying to understand what in the world Geechisu was talking about and who was the one shouting things out at him.

"We of Team Plasma invite you to join us! We all want to create a new world where people and Pokémon are both free! Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you… please, release your Pokémon."

"FUNNNNGAAAAAHHH!"

"And so I end my speech to you today. Everyone, I give you my honest thanks. That is all."

The grunts started mechanically moving and picking up the flags they'd placed on the road, and then they arranged themselves around Geechisu, escorting him out of the city. No one seemed to acknowledge the motionless Mamepato on the ground, who was none other than Ditzy Bird.

"Crazy crack head!" Danny shouted after the Team Plasma people, but none of them seemed to show any sign of hearing her.

Meanwhile, Touya was holding in his laughter, Cheren was trying to keep a straight face, and Adeku was completely speechless.

* * *

_Author's Notes_: I swear that everyone of Team Plasma is on something mysterious.


	56. Chapter Fifty Five

_Author's Notes_: I totally forgot to mention this for the last chapter, but I descrbied Souryuu City's appearance as how it is in Pokemon Black, even though we're clearly going with the plot of White. It's not a mistake or anything... I just like Black's appearance for the city better than I did for White.

And Shaga's badass. Though his name makes me laugh.

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Six

"See, what'd I tell you? That speech he made was crazy!" Iris said to a tall, old man. People in the crowd were beginning to break apart, but Iris was remaining where she was with the man.

"The cooperation of people and Pokémon is how the Isshu region came to exist to begin with," the old man said. "If a Pokémon really didn't want anything to do with humans, it would simply leave… Capturing a Pokémon inside a Poké Ball doesn't mean you've captured its heart…"

Back over where Adeku stood with Touya, Cheren, and Danny, Adeku turned to glance down at them and said, "Let's go, you three!"

"Huh? What?"

But Adeku was already walking over to where Iris and the old man stood talking. Touya, Cheren, and Danny hurried after him, wondering why Iris was talking to an old man who looked like he was more badass than the Terminator.

"It's been a while, Shaga!" Adeku said. "And Iris, though I just saw you in Shippou City."

"Hi, Mr. Adeku!" Iris greeted and looked over at Touya, Cheren, and Danny. "…And… oh, yeah, you three."

"Don't you, 'oh, yeah, you three' us! Where did you disappear off to, young lady?" Danny screeched as she lectured Iris like she was her mother.

"Relax! Don't get your panties in a bunch, it was only for a couple of minutes!"

"Don't get my panties in a bunch? WHO SAID I'M WEARING PANTIES?"

No one bothered to respond to Danny's random shouting, because it was better and safer not to. Though Touya, Cheren, and Iris were all disturbed by Danny's shout.

"…What's wrong?" the old man asked. "What does the champion of the Pokémon League need from us?"

"To be blunt, my request is this… tell us about the legendary dragon Pokémon!"

"Which one?" Iris asked. "Reshiram or Zekrom?"

Danny karate-chopped Iris's head. "If you knew anything about them, why didn't you say anything?"

Iris rubbed her head, and then widened her eyes and asked, "Whaaat? Who are you, sis?"

"Don't you 'who are you' me! YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHO I AM!"

"Uh…" Iris glanced off to the side, and then grinned and said, "It's nice to meet you! I'm Iris, and-"

Danny karate-chopped Iris's head again, and Cheren simply pushed up his glasses and asked, "Iris, do you know anything about the legendary dragon Pokémon?"

"That man here earlier, Geechisu, mentioned something about someone named N reviving Reshiram…" the old man grumbled.

"Oho!" Adeku randomly exclaimed, ignoring Danny, who was karate-chopping Iris's head some more. "That same N person wants Danny here to search for the other legendary dragon Pokémon!… huh?"

At the mere mention of that, Danny had whirled around, crouched down into a ball, and was mumbling, "Have to… find… dragon Pokémon… don't wanna…" while twirling her finger in circles on the ground.

"Don't worry, I know how to handle this," Touya simply said. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a little cake wrapped in plastic, and held it out to Danny. "Here you go, Danny! Cake!"

Danny immediately cheered up, taking the cake and pulling off the wrapper. Standing back up, she started eating it silently while everyone just stared at her. Eventually, Adeku coughed into his hand and continued talking.

"What was I saying? Oh, right. Danny here has to look for the d-r-a-g-o-n P-o-k-é-m-o-n."

Luckily, Danny didn't catch onto Adeku's spelling the words out, and continued eating the little cake that should've taken three bites to finish. She was nibbling on it like a hamster… if hamsters existed in Isshu, that is.

"Let me make sure I'm understanding this…" the old man began. "This N person wants to send the two legendary dragon Pokémon-" He immediately stopped once he noticed that Danny had paused her eating at the mention of the words "legendary dragon." But she quickly resumed eating and so he continued talking. "…against each other in a battle to test who's right?"

"How'd you get all that out of what he just said?" Touya quietly asked. But no one heard him.

"But, you know…" Iris said. "I thought that those two Pokémon got along really well?"

"That's right, Iris," Adeku said. "The ones who make Pokémon battle are humans…"

"Unless you belong to Brendan and your names are Grovyle and Swampert," Touya muttered.

"So that the trainers and Pokémon can get along better. So, now!" Adeku turned to face Cheren, Touya, and Danny. Cheren was listening intently to the entire conversation, Touya was still being a smartass, and Danny was _still_ eating the cake. "I'm heading back to the Pokémon League!… But why am I finally returning there, after having been gone for so long? Well, obviously, it's to wait for N!"

Touya gasped dramatically. "NO. YOU SERIOUS?"

"I'll teach him about-"

"-laughing like a school girl."

"-the beauty of this world, where people and Pokémon live together in harmony!" Adeku didn't seem fazed by Touya's frequent interrupting. "Cheren, Danny, Touya! As the champion, I'll be waiting there for you guys as well! So, after you get the Souryuu gym badge, come to the Pokémon League! A fair warning first, though: the Souryuu Gym is really tough."

Finally, he paused to face Iris and the old man again. "Then I'll leave the rest to you, Shaga and Iris!"

Adeku walking away from them, instead of flying on his Unidentified Flying Pokémon. They watched him leave, and then Iris said, "Is he okay? He had a scary look on his face."

"I thought that's how he always looked?" Danny asked, finally having finished eating the cake. Touya snorted, covering up his mouth and trying not to laugh.

"Don't worry, Iris," the old man, whose name was apparently Shaga, said. "The man is the Isshu region's strongest trainer." He turned away from Iris to face the other three. "Well, then, Cheren, Touya, and Danny, was it? Come to my home. I'll tell you everything I know about the legendary dragon Pokémon. Iris, you can show them the way."

Without another word, Shaga turned around and started walking away, presumably off to his own home, leaving the four kids behind. Iris looked up at them with a grin.

"Heehee!

"Don't 'heehee' us! How do you know that old man terminator?"

"How do you like Souryuu City so far?" Iris asked, clearly avoiding Danny's question. "I know my way around here better than any other place in Isshu… 'cause this place's my hometown!"

"What, that's all?" Danny started laughing loudly for no apparent reason. "Why didn't you say that from the beginning, then? HAHAHAH!"

"We should wait for everyone else first, though, before we head to Mr. Shaga's home," Cheren said as he pushed his glasses up yet again. "He wouldn't mind, right?"

"Nope! Shaga's a very patient man!… Probably!"

* * *

Pearl, Touko, Belle, and Brendan finally came into Souryuu City nearly an hour and a half later. Pearl and Touko had bags full of mysterious items and Belle was comforting a tortured and traumatized Brendan.

Pearl found Cheren, Touya, Danny, and Iris sitting on a couch in the Pokémon Center and walked up to them. "So, anyways," she began, "how about this city? Nice and bright and… blinding, and stuff. With those neon lights and stuff, it'll be another Porygon episode."

"What? What's a Porygon episode?"

"Nothing, never mind."

Iris hopped up from the sofa, jumping around. "Anyways, everyone's here now, right? Let's~get~going!"

"…Going? Where to?"

"To Shaga's home!"

Pearl suddenly started laughing, and then abruptly stopped. "…Okay. What've I missed out on this past hour or so? What's a Shaga?"

* * *

_Author's Notes_: I'm serious, it's another Porygon episode in the making! *shot*


	57. Chapter Fifty Six

Author's Notes: Brendan big ol' secret is revealed. YO.

Sorry, I went on a writing spree and now I'm going to kill everyone with chapter updates. Okay, that was an exaggeration. It's only, like, 5 more chapters or so. I can't count right now, so there. YARHARHAR.

Shaga's house is lonely looking. He should spruce it up with Pokemon dolls. :D

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Six

After Iris gave Touko, Pearl, Belle, and Brendan a quick rundown of everything that had happened so far, the eight of them left the Pokémon Center and began heading to Shaga's house, with Iris leading the way.

Luckily, his home wasn't too far from the center, and Iris lead them down the sidewalk that lead up to it. A lot of the buildings were black, which made the city seem darker than it actually was. However, green shrubs lined the outside of Shaga's home, looking really out of place.

Iris told them to wait outside for a moment, and then she hurried on inside, the door opening up from the center and disappearing into the doorframe. Once Iris was inside, the door shut itself.

"Now, _that_ is a weird door," Brendan simply said. "In fact, this entire city is pretty weird. Also, I'd love a door like that for my bedroom."

"No one cares about what you want for your Pokémon doll covered bedroom, Bren," Pearl answered.

"What? Pokémon doll covered…?"

"Pearl! How dare you announce my hobby so easily like that!"

The door suddenly opened up again, and Iris peeked outside. "'Kay, guys, come on in!"

"You missed it, Iris!" Danny said as she hurried up to the house. "Brendan supposedly has a bedroom full of-"

Brendan was quick to put a hand over Danny's mouth before she could finish what she was saying. Because he knew he'd never hear the end of it from Iris if she found out about his hobby.

They walked on into Shaga's home, where the inside was lonely and barren looking. It was black and gray, and there was no furniture anywhere. A flight of stairs lead up to a second level, and there were four blue lamp things there, illuminating the room.

"You should spruce up the place with Pokémon dolls. I bet Brendan could lend you some," Pearl said. Brendan screamed like a lady.

Shaga didn't pay attention to what they said and simply got down to business. "Let's start. Danny, you have the Dark Stone. Zekrom, who awakens from the Dark Stone, and Reshiram, who's already awoken, were once the same Pokémon."

Iris continued where Shaga left off. "That single dragon Pokémon, along with the twin heroes, brought a new region into being. And people and Pokémon had happy lives!"

"One day, however…" Shaga continued, "The twin heroes, the older brother who sought the truth, and the younger brother who sought ideals, began to argue about how to decide which one of them was right…

"The single dragon Pokémon that had been with them all that time split its body into two. One sided with the older brother, and the other with the young brother."

"In its pursuit of truth, the white dragon Pokémon sought to usher in a new and better world… Its name was Reshiram." Iris paused so she could let that statement sink in on everyone. No one seemed to have any reaction so far, which defeated her dramatic pause. And so she continued.

"And the other, the black dragon Pokémon, sought ideals and to usher in a new world - a world of hope. Its name was Zekrom."

"Because the two o f them were once the same entity, their battle raged endlessly and neither one could be declared the winner," Shaga said. "They simply exhausted themselves. The twin heroes proclaimed that there was no one side that was right and ceased the conflict."

"But, but… the two heroes' sons started the battle again! And an instant later, Reshiram and Zekrom destroyed Isshu with fire and lightning! Then, they disappeared! But, but… If people work with Pokémon in the right way, we don't have to worry anymore about the world being destroyed. I mean, Reshiram and Zekrom worked hard for everyone and made a new region! Because, because…!"

"Whoa, whoa, Iris!" Brendan exclaimed. "Calm down! You don't want your hair to get too excited and fly away."

"Oh, shut up! Stupid Brendan! STUPID!"

"Love ya too, hon!"

Shaga decided to continue where Iris left off, since she was busy shouting at Brendan. "…Most Pokémon cannot speak. People may hurt Pokémon even more by imposing their selfish thoughts on them. But, no matter what, Pokémon and people believe in each other, need each other, and will continue to live together… But, nevertheless, both believe in one another and… are any of you listening?"

Shaga stared at the group in front of him. Aside from Brendan and Iris fighting, Pearl and Touko were looking at themselves in a handheld mirror, Cheren appeared to be annoyed as he was whispering something to Danny, who was giggling, Belle was staring off at a spot on the ground in a daze, and Touya appeared to be the only one even remotely listening. Noticing that Shaga was staring at them, Touya spoke up.

"Sorry, Mr. Shaga. My friends have the attention spans of kindergartners when it comes to speeches. If they don't hear anything important or something that doesn't relate to them, they won't hear it."

"Ahem!" Cheren interrupted, coughing into his hand. "I was listening perfectly fine! I was just lecturing Danny!"

"'Cause I mentioned that his forehead could be used as a battleground for Reshiram and Zekrom!"

"I _told_ you to stop talking about my forehead! It's not _that_ big! Besides, you should take a look at your own forehead! It's as big as mine!"

"That's right! My forehead will be the home base for Zekrom and yours can be for Reshiram!"

Touko looked away from the mirror to glance at Cheren and Danny. "Huh? What's this about Cheren's forehead being a home base for Reshiram?" she asked.

"His forehead will be the base for Reshiram and mine will be for Zekrom!"

Touko stared at Danny's forehead for a moment, as if she was considering if it'd be a good enough base, and then nodded, turning to look at her own reflection yet again. "Anyways, I think I should trim my bangs. What do you say, Pearl?"

Shaga sighed. "…Iris? Maybe they'll listen if you talk," he suggested. Iris finally quit arguing with Brendan and continued talking.

"And so, and so! We and Pokémon can't be separated, because we need one another! That's why Team Plasma can't be forgiven for trying to separate us!"

Everyone snapped out of their trances and stared at Iris in awe. "OHHHH!"

"Well, that's everything we know," Shaga said. "Unfortunately, we don't know how to wake up the legendary Pokémon… And so, as I promised Adeku. You must win the Gym Badge from the Souryuu Pokémon gym. I'll be awaiting your challenge!"

Without another word, Shaga left his house, leaving all of them behind.

"…So," Brendan began. "How about that Shaga? He looks like an old man terminator. 'I'll be back.' He should've totally said that."

"Brendan? Shut up."

Brendan dramatically fell to the ground and began crying. Dramatically. As he did that, everyone else just decided that the best thing to do would be to leave, and so they did just that, leaving the dramatically crying boy behind.

* * *

"Does anyone know where Iris is?" Danny asked, walking up to where Touko sat in the Pokémon Center. "I was hoping she'd show us the way to the gym…"

"Oh, damn it, Danny!" Touko whined. She looked up from where she sat with a small mirror in front of her and a pair of scissors in her hand. Apparently, she was attempting to cut her own bangs, which Danny never even knew she had, and now had cut a large chunk out of them. "Look at what you made me do! I cut off too much!"

"Then just even it out," Danny calmly answered. "You're wearing a hat all the time, so it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Touché. Now get outta here and go look for the gym yourself."

"Fine then! I'll find the gym myself! I don't _need_ your help!"

"I never even said I knew where the gym was!"

"Touko, this relationship is over! Waahhhh!" Danny spun around and ran away, dramatically crying as she ran over to where Belle and Cheren waited for her at the entrance of the Pokémon Center. "Belle! Touko and I broke up!"

"Aww, poor baby! Come here, lemme hug you!"

Cheren fixed his glasses for the umpteenth time that day as he watched Danny and Belle hug each other. "You guys are really weird, you know."


	58. Chapter Fifty Seven

_Author's Notes_: FUUUU- This gym was soooooo annoying. I hated having to go through that painfully slow puzzle every single time I lost... And those damn dragons move sooooooo freaking slow. I was ready to through my DS across the room.

LOVEON DOES, IN NO WAY, SUPPORT THE ABUSE OF NINTENDO DSs. SHE DOES, HOWEVER, SUPPORT THE USE OF ABUSING THE DRAGON TYPE TO KILL THE GYM TRAINERS' TEAMS. HEEHEE.

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Seven

The Souryuu City gym was located in the northwest area of the city. Belle, Danny, and Cheren found it easily, all while admiring the weird way the city looked, with the lights running through the ground and all. An old looking gate surrounded the gym, which was gray and shaped a bit like a dragon. A sign out front read, "Souryuu City Gym. Leader: Shaga. The Spartan Mayor. And-"

Danny didn't bother to read the rest of the sign and simply walked on into the gym. "You know," Cheren began as Danny walked on inside, "you really should consider knocking first. I mean, I know it's a gym, but you also barge on into rooms at the Pokémon Center, and… you aren't even listening to me, are you?"

Inside of the gym, it was dark. Of course, it was already dark outside, but it was somehow darker inside the gym. Danny abruptly realized that there was a light glowing at the bottom, and that there were several stones dragons snaking around the gym. Beneath those snakes was the white floor, and that was what was glowing.

"Man, these are some weird ass gyms…" Danny mumbled.

"Do you think that if you fell off the dragon and fell to the floor, you'd die?" Belle asked.

Danny and Cheren stared at her. Belle just blinked a couple of times and said, "Just sayin'."

"Hey, you! We've made eye contact, so let's have a battle!"

The three of them looked off nearby, where a boy in black and orange was pointing at them. Though to be more specific, he was pointing at Danny.

"What? I didn't make eye contact… I didn't even notice you standing there."

"Let's battle!"

Danny shrugged. "Okay! Who cares if we did or didn't make eye contact? Hitomoshi, I choose you!"

"Onondo, go!" the boy yelled, tossing a Poké Ball and letting out a green and gray dragon-like Pokémon. Danny felt like she'd seen a Pokémon similar to it somewhere before, but before she could figure it out, the boy yelled out an attack for the Pokémon. "Use Dragon Claw!"

"Hitomoshi, Will-o-wisp!"

Onondo charged forwards, raking out at Hitomoshi with its claws. Hitomoshi sent out several bluish flames that surrounded Onondo as it attacked, and then the flames closed it to burn the Pokémon.

"Flame Burst!"

"Dragon Claw again!"

Onondo slashed out as Hitomoshi shot out a flame that exploded upon contact. Unfortunately, Onondo didn't seem particularly hurt from the attack.

Cheren shouted out, "Fire attacks don't work well against dragon Pokémon."

Well. That made this gym challenge a whole lot tougher.

* * *

"And so, and so! There's also Pearl! She's nice, and she's kinda like a big sister to us! But don't ever mention the word 'capture' to her, 'cause then she goes on Pokémon catching sprees. Like, this one time she took Cheren with her to go capture all the Pokémon on Route 4, but then they got lost in the Resort Desert because she was so fixated on capturing a Pokémon that was running away from her. Now, whenever she wants to go capture Pokémon, she asks Cheren if he wants to come along and he gets up and runs as fast as he can."

"It sounds like you've been having a fun time with these kids. But have you bothered to tell them about that yet?" Shaga asked.

Iris shook her head. "Nope, not yet. I'm sure they'll be really surprised when they find out, though."

"…Hmm. And you mentioned that Pearl and Brendan are from Hoenn? If I'm correct, they have a dragon-type trainer there in the Elite Four…"

"Yeah, yeah! But, I just don't understand… how can someone so girly like Brendan live there? I've seen Hoenn on T.V. before… but I still can't believe it! He doesn't seem to appreciate the nature and stuff there… all he cares about is how he looks and whether or not someone will recognize his 'fabulous potential'! Ugh, it makes me so angry!"

"For someone that makes you so angry, you seemed to talk about him a lot… oh. I know now. Little Iris seems to be in love."

"W-what?" Turning shades of red that weren't natural for her, Iris started waving her arms around and clearly panicking. "T-t-that's not true! What makes you say that? 'Cause, you know, it's not true!"

"There's no hiding it. If Miss Fuuro was here, she'd be able to sniff it out."

"Sniff?"

Shaga nodded. "That's right. She can sniff out love and give it number grades based on how strong it is. We should have her do that with you."

"N-no way! You're lying! There's no way she can do that!"

"You're afraid because you know that she can and that you are in love?"

"No, that's not it at all! I am _not_ in love with-"

"Hi, Iris! So this is where you were, huh?"

Iris screamed and jumped back, whirling around to see that Danny, Belle, and Cheren stood there in the small hall that she and Shaga were standing in. The Pokémon gym symbol was printed on the back of the wall, but that has nothing to do with this.

"So," Belle began and tilted her head to the side, "you're in love with who?"

"Allow me to answer," Shaga said. "You see, little Iris here is in love with B-"

"NOOOOOO! Stop it, don't say it, it's not true! What did I do to deserve this? Was it because I left my laundry on the floor when I left to the professor's? WHYYYY?"

"By the way, why are you here, Iris?" Danny asked.

Cheren looked at her with a blank expression. "…Didn't you read the sign out front?"

"No," Danny and Belle both answered. Cheren sighed and fixed his glasses, but didn't say another word.

Iris shook her head. "…Go on, guys! Guess!"

"You're an insurance scam artist here to rip-off Shaga?"

"You're Shaga's bodyguard?"

"You're a time-traveler who's actually Shaga's great-grandmother and has returned to the future from your childhood?"

"That one made no sense whatsoever."

"I know. Um… you're a newspaper reporter and you're here for an interview with Shaga?"

"Shaga's a fashion designer and you're here to pick up his latest fashions and deliver them to Kamitsure."

"He can't be a fashion designer, Belle! Look at those suspender things!"

"Oh, you're right… Um, okay! Shaga's a hair designer and you're here to get a new hairdo! Not that you should, 'cause your hair's sooo nice and fluffy and stuff!"

"You've come here to watch the monthly reruns of The Cosby Show with Shaga!"

"The Cosby Show? What's that? And what's that about monthly reruns?"

Shaga, Iris, and Cheren were silent as they listened to all of Danny and Belle's theories, and while Danny and Belle began talking to one another about reruns of shows they liked, Shaga looked over at Iris and asked, "Is there something wrong with them?"

"I've been traveling with them all this time and I still don't know what's going on in either of their heads," Iris answered. All of a sudden, she raised her voice and said, "ANYWAYS!" Which got their attention. "Guys, it's really simple! You should've guessed it by now!"

"Um… sorry," Danny said and shook her head. "My mind's blank."

"As opposed to how it's _always_ blank?" Cheren asked.

"Touché, Forehead Boy."

Before either of them could start arguing, Iris decided to announce her announcement that she needed to announce.

"Guys, let me do a formal introduction! It's nice to meet you! I'm Souryuu City's super strong Gym Leader, Iris!"

Danny and Belle's "WHAAATTT?" could probably have been heard all over the Isshu region.

* * *

_Author's Notes_: HEY. SUSPENDERS ARE EFFING FASHIONABLE, DAMN IT. *shot*


	59. Chapter Fifty Eight VS Shaga and Iris

_Author's Notes_: SCREW YOU, IRIS AND SHAGA AND YOUR UNDERLEVELED WHAT'S-ITS-NAME. SCREW YOOOUUUUU.

In case you weren't able to tell, I'm hungry. No, that has nothing to do with this. Uh, Onondo's English name is Fraxure, and yeah. I suggest killing their team with an army of Druddigon. Did I even spell that right? I DUN CARE.

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Eight

"And so, the double battle between Gym Leaders Shaga and Iris and challengers Cheren and Danny will now begin!" Belle announced, and then giggled. "Heehee, I always wanted to say that… anyways, um… start!"

Both Shaga and Iris sent out their own Onondo, the weird gray and green Pokémon that they'd battled multiple times with the gym trainers. Danny sent out Fire Pig and Cheren sent out his Lepardas.

"Fake Out!"

"Arm Thrust!"

"Use Dragon Dance, Onondo!"

"…Dragon Claw, Onondo."

Lepardas was the first to move, running up to Shaga's Onondo and slapping its paws together in front of Onondo's face. Onondo instantly flinched and stumbled back, while Iris's Onondo began doing some weird dance. Fire Pig was the last one to move, dashing up to one of the Onondo and hitting it with his arms, once, twice, all the way up to five times. Onondo fainted from the attack, and Shaga returned it to its Poké Ball.

"…Oh," Danny began and pointed at Iris's Onondo. "Iris, I just realized this, but… is your Ono whatever the evolved form of your Kibago?"

Iris nodded. "It's the evolved form of Kibago, yeah. Oh, but… no, it's not the same Kibago. Kibago's in my hair… this Onondo is his big sister." As if on command, Iris's Kibago peeked out of her hair, watching the battle with its eyes literally sparkling.

Shaga sent out a blue and red dragon Pokémon next, another Pokémon that Danny had seen multiple times under the command of the gym trainers. "…Dragon Tail."

"Fire Pig, use Heat Stamp!"

"Onondo, Dragon Claw!"

"Lepardas, use Night Slash!"

And so, the battle continued. Iris's Onondo raked at Lepardas with its claws, and Lepardas attacked it with its own claws as well. Fire Pig slammed down onto the red and blue dragon Pokémon, who quickly got up and whirled around, ramming Fire Pig with its tail.

All of a sudden, Fire Pig's Poké Ball opened up and sucked him back inside. Another Poké Ball opened up, and Hitomoshi was sent out instead. All of this happened without Danny touching them, though she had no idea why or how it was happening.

Cheren simply pushed his glasses up a bit. "…Dragon Tail forces the Pokémon being attacked to return to its Poké Ball, and then another one is automatically sent out. In case you were wondering."

"Oh, what would we do without you, you smart, forehead boy."

* * *

"Wait, let me get this straight…" Pearl slowly began. "…Iris is a Gym Leader?"

"Yep."

"And she's in love with someone?"

"Yep."

"I am not! Stop saying that!"

Pearl sighed and sat back, leaning again the wall. She, Danny, Cheren, Belle, Iris, Touko, Touya, and Brendan were all together in their room at the Souryuu Pokémon Center.

"And… let me get this straight… Danny and Cheren had a double battle against Iris and Shaga?"

"Yep."

"And you won?"

"Yep."

"…And Iris's Kibago is the younger sibling of her Onondo?"

"I don't know what that has to do with anything, but yep."

"…And Belle still needs to challenge the gym, but she can't because they had to close up?"

"Yep."

Pearl just stared at Danny, Belle, Cheren, and Iris. And then, she raised a can of something mysterious in the air and said… "…Let's have a toast, to Cheren and Danny's eighth badges!"

"CHEERS!"

Apparently, they were having a meaningless mini-party for Danny and Cheren getting their eighth badges. Of course, Belle still had to get her own badge the next day, but they were having a party anyways.

"After Belle wins her battle tomorrow, we'll… uh, leave. You know, go on to the next place. What's the next place ahead anyways?"

"Well, there's Route 10, and then there's the Victory Road, and then you'll be at the Pokémon League, I think."

"Ooh. Exciting."

Pearl kicked Brendan in the side for no apparent reason, and he nearly choked on the soda he was drinking. "…Ow. That hurt, you evil wench."

Pearl just stared at him. And Brendan got up and ran out of the room faster than Pearl could fully realize what he'd just said. Once she realized what he said, she stood up and slowly walked out of the room as well, probably off to go find him and kick him back to Kanoko Town.

* * *

In the middle of the night, while everyone else was asleep, Danny lay awake in her bed. Belle was snoring peacefully next to her, and she occasionally heard Touko mumble something in her sleep. But Danny couldn't fall asleep. She had too much on her mind.

Once Belle got her badge tomorrow, they'd be heading to the Pokémon League. Where N probably was already. And she knew that, at some point, she'd have to battle him if Adeku failed to defeat N.

And that would mean she'd have to face that giant Pokémon, Reshiram.

Man, why did Aloe have to give _her_ the Dark Stone? Just because she was the closest one to her? No, probably because Geechisu had told them earlier that N supposedly "chose" her to be the one to battle him and Reshiram. Though Danny had some kind of feeling that something about that wasn't true. Knowing N, he probably would've preferred Touya to battle him.

But if that other Pokémon, what was its name… Zekrom. If Zekrom was anything like Reshiram, there's no way Danny could face it. She nearly fainted just from being in front of Reshiram, and it hadn't even been directly in front of her. If it hadn't been for her Pokémon, Danny really would've passed out.

Danny noticed one of her friends getting up and out of bed, and watched as Cheren came down from the top bunk of the bunk bed across from her. He rubbed his eyes as he headed to the door, and before Danny realized what she was doing, she'd reached out and grabbed onto his jacket.

Cheren looked back at her, blinking a couple of times. "…Huh? Danny, what is it?"

"Um… I…" Danny looked down at the ground unsurely. "…I'm… scared."

Cheren stared at her for a moment, and Danny couldn't tell what he was thinking. But then he said, "Wait a sec, just let me go to the bathroom, and then we can talk."

* * *

A few minutes later and Cheren and Danny were outside the Pokémon Center, sitting on the sidewalk. The streets were, predictably, empty. After all, everyone was asleep right now.

"So," Cheren began and yawned, "what's wrong? What're you scared about?"

"Um… I'm just scared about… facing N."

Cheren didn't say anything, and so Danny continued talking. "I mean… back at the Dragon Spiral Tower… when I saw Reshiram there with N, I nearly fainted. I was… I was scared. My Pokémon were the ones who helped me not fall or pass out, but… I was still scared.

"If Zekrom is anything like Reshiram, then… I don't think I can do it. Cheren, I… I… I'm scared. I really am. I… I don't think I can catch Zekrom, or even battle N. I… I think someone else should do it. I don't want to."

Cheren didn't say anything for a moment. Danny didn't look at him, and when she finally did, he was simply staring forward silently. But then he pushed his glasses up, and looked over at Danny with a grin.

"…If you really don't want to, then I'm sure we can get Pearl or Touya to do it. Hey, even I'd do it. But, you know… Danny, I think you can. After all, you're probably the bravest person I know. I think… No, I'm sure that you'll be able to get past your fear when that time comes. I… no, not just me. We all believe in you, Danny. So… cheer up, okay?"

Danny stared at him for a moment, and then she grinned. "…Heheh. Thanks, Cheren… I guess I needed to hear that from someone." Danny sighed, leaning back and laying down, staring up at the sky. "…Don't you think the world's amazing?"

Cheren looked at her oddly. "…What? Where's this coming from?"

"It's just… I mean, look at the sky right now. If you think about it, everyone in the world's connected by it… we all see the same sky, don't we?"

"I… guess, if you put it that way."

"Hmm… or rather, to be more exact, we see the same moon, don't we?"

"Uh…"

"It's hard to see the sky sometimes in Snowpoint City. It snows a lot there, so there's usually too many clouds in the sky to see the stars. But when the sky does clear up, it's really cool… the stars are really, super bright! It's almost like you can touch them!"

"…Oh."

"And sometimes, when it snows, it's like sparkling! My mom calls it diamond dust, and she says it only happens on special days, but it's sounds a little fake. I mean, it's not like the earth would know when it's a special day and start making sparkly snow fall, right?"

"I… guess."

"Has it ever snowed sparkly snow in Isshu?"

Cheren seemed at a loss for words. "Uh… I don't recall sparkly snow ever falling in Kanoko Town, at least."

Danny stared at him. "…You know, now that I hear someone else say it, sparkly snow sounds _really_ stupid, doesn't it?"

"No, not really," Cheren answered. He took off his glasses and started rubbing them on his shirt, and for a second, Danny thought he was laughing.

"…But, you know… sometimes I think about what would've happened if I'd never come to Isshu. I mean, I never would've met any of you guys, and I never would've met my Pokémon. But then, when I think about that, I think about the fact that, with every gym badge we get, we're getting closer to the end of our journey. And… now that we both have our eighth badge, all that's left is the Pokémon League. After that… what's gonna happen after that? Are Brendan and Pearl going to leave and head back to Hoenn? I don't even know what _I'm_ going to do."

Cheren laughed again. "…I didn't think you ever thought about things like that. But, anyway… no one ever said our journey ends after we challenge the Elite Four. There's still the rest of the region to travel. We've got Sazanami Town, the White Forest… there's a lot of places on the east side of the region that we haven't traveled to yet. So, even after we're done with the Elite Four challenge, we still have more of our journey to continue. Don't worry, Danny."

Danny didn't say anything then. She stared down at the ground for a moment, and then looked up at the sky. "…Hey, Cheren?"

"What is it?"

"You wanna sleep out here? I wanna look at the sky some more. I don't think we've ever slept outside before, have we? That's not a very adventurous thing of us, is it?"

Cheren nodded, leaning back to lay on the sidewalk with Danny. They stared at the sky and talked, and before either of them knew it, they were fast asleep.

* * *

_Author's Notes_: My god, I vomited sparkly rainbows from writing the second half of this. It's like, whut?

No, the what moments are for the sequel, where there shall be plenty moments of cannibalistic Cherrims who spit up feathers and bones and-

I think I'm officially crazy.


	60. Chapter Fifty Nine VS Iris

_Author's Notes_: Ononokusu's English name is, uh, Haxorus, yo. And, uh, Pearl has a Facebook page. I'M KIDDING, AHAHAHA-

Weird chapter is weird. Chillarmy's english name is Minccino. By the way, I caught a Cinccino and it kicks ass, yo. I think 'cause his ability is technician and uh...

Sweep Slap's English name is Tail Slap. Not to be confused with Tail Whip. *shot*

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Cheren wasn't sure what woke him up first: the heavy feeling on his chest, the sound of people around them, or Pearl giggling like a maniac. He opened his eyes quickly, finding that he still had his glasses on, and that his back hurt.

Pearl stood a little bit away from them, Danny's cell phone in hand as she giggled like a high school girl. "Oh, this is priceless! This is _so_ going on Facebook!"

"Face what? What're you talking about?"

Pearl made a stupid face and covered her mouth as she laughed again. "Take a look at your chest.~"

Cheren had a bad feeling as he slowly looked down at his chest… where Danny had her head placed, and was still fast asleep.

Man, he only hoped that he wasn't turning red.

"So," Pearl began, still giggling like she was stupid, "How far did you two go last night?"

"W-what're you talking about? We didn't do anything!"

"You sure? 'Cause with her sleeping on your chest like that… doh-ho-ho!"

Cheren turned back to Danny, grabbing her by her shoulders and shaking her around. "Danny! Danny, wake up!"

"Huuuhhh? What is it…?" Danny yawned as she opened up her eyes. Cheren let go of her, and Danny looked around with a confused expression, rubbing her eyes. "…Where are we?"

And Pearl repeated her earlier question, "How far did you two go last night?"

"Huuuhhhhh? Um… Cheren? What'd we do last night? Why are we even out here…?"

Which just made Pearl laugh like she was born stupid even more.

"We didn't do anything! Don't you remember? You were awake last night and you said you wanted to talk, so we came out here to…"

"…Oh." For some reason, that seemed to fully wake Danny up, and she turned to stare at Pearl, who was still laughing. "Yeah. Cheren and I had a talk last night, and I asked him if we could sleep outside. 'Cause, you know, yeah."

"Aw, that's no fun! You _sure_ you didn't do anything…?"

Danny nodded. "I'm sure. By the way, why do you have my cell phone…?"

"I was taking pictures of you two."

Cheren jumped up. "What? G… Give it back!"

"Why? It's not your phone… oh, wait. Do you want it back because you knew you were sleeping with your hand on…"

"I did _not_!"

"I know, but that face you just made was priceless. Hoho. By the way…" Pearl turned from Cheren to look down at Danny, who was still sitting on the ground looking like she had a really bad hangover. "I already sent some of those pictures to Raven. Teehee."

Cheren seemed more horrified that Danny was. Though, actually, Danny wasn't horrified. She had no reaction to this and was standing up, brushing off her legs. While Cheren made unintelligible sounds and Pearl laughed like a monkey, Danny walked back into the Pokémon Center and went up to the nurse working there.

"Hi, nurse lady," Danny began, slumping over on the counter.

"Underage drinking is bad," the nurse responded.

"What?"

"Nothing. Anyway, what's your name, sweetie?"

"I'm Danny."

The nurse nodded, walking away and presumably going off to get Danny's Pokémon. In a few minutes, she returned with Danny's five Poké Balls on a little tray. "Here you go! Your Pokémon are all healed! Please come again!"

As Danny took the Poké Balls, Cheren and Pearl were still outside doing what they were doing when Danny went inside the Pokémon Center: Cheren making squeaking noises and Pearl laughing like a hobo. If hobos laughed, that is.

"Oh, by the way," Pearl began as Danny finally exited the Pokémon Center, having changed out of her pajamas and into her regular outfit. "Belle's challenging the Souryuu Gym right now."

Danny nodded, heading off down the road. "Okay! Thanks!"

Pearl was confused as she turned back to the squawking Cheren. "What's she thanking me for…?"

* * *

"Okay, Chillarmy! Use Sweep Slap!"

"You can do it, Ononokusu! Use Dragon Tail!"

Belle's Chillarmy dashed forwards, launching itself in the air and bouncing off the wall, diving towards the tall, yellow and gray dragon Pokémon that was Iris's. It hit the Pokémon with its tail in a sweeping motion, smacking it once, twice, three times, four times… As Chillarmy hit Ononokusu a fifth time, it crashed down to the ground, lacking the energy to move anymore.

"Aw, man!" Iris sighed as she returned Ononokusu to its Poké Ball. "I mean, I already knew that you were pretty strong, Belle, but… you've really come a long way, in my opinion!"

Belle laughed. "Well, you know… I wanted to get stronger, so I wouldn't have to stay back while everyone else fought… so we trained real hard! But, Iris, how come you never mentioned you had really strong Pokémon like that?"

"Well, no one ever really asked so…"

"Ahem… Iris, you should give this young lady her badge…" Shaga grumbled, having stood back while Iris and Belle battled.

Iris nodded, walking off to the back of the hall they were at, reaching into a mysteriously placed box and taking out a badge, hopping back over to Belle. "Here you go, Belle! The Legend Badge!"

Belle took the badge in her hand, and then for no reason at all, spun around in a circle and held the badge up in the air. "We got… the Legend Badge!" Chillarmy hopped up and hung upside from Belle's extended arm with its tail, and chirped.

Once Belle finally decided to stop posing, she reached into her bag and took out a case, all while talking to Iris. "Iris, are you gonna keep on traveling with us or are you gonna stay here? 'Cause, you know, I reeaaaaallllyyyy want you to come with us! Please? Please, please, pleaseeeeee?"

Iris pretended to think about it. "Hmm… should I stay or should I go? Hmm… what do you say, Shaga?"

Shaga said nothing. Belle was still begging and squealing, "Please, please, please!"

"Hmm… should I go…?"

"Yeah, yeah! Come with us, pleasssseeeeee?"

"Okay! I'll go!"

Belle shrieked like someone had just asked her to marry them. Shaga stared at Belle with some unreadable expression and Iris had covered her ears.

"Jeez! Did you have to scream like that? Of course I'd come along… I wouldn't leave you guys right here! My god, I think you burst my eardrums with that scream…"

Eventually, Belle and Iris decided to leave the gym, where they found Danny and Cheren waiting at the beginning of it. Apparently neither wanted to bother going through the gym puzzle all over again, and so they just decided to wait.

"Belle, that scream of yours made me go deaf there for a moment," Danny said.

"Sorry, I was just happy."

"Anyways, let's go!~ Route 10 awaits us!"

However, as soon as they left the gym, they were greeted by… Professor Araragi, of all people.

"So, were Iris and Shaga tough?"

"Are you a stalker?"

"Wait… you knew Iris was a Gym Leader?"

Professor Araragi nodded. "Yep, I knew! Anyways, you guys aren't busy right now, are you? Can you come with me for a sec?"

Not bothering to listen for their answer, she started walking away, her footsteps clacking and clicking as she walked along the sidewalk. Iris, Belle, Cheren, and Danny hurried after her as she led them through the city, coming to a stop in front of the gatehouse. She pointed.

"Up ahead is Route 10, and ahead of that is the badge check gate," she explained. "Once you're through that, there's the Victory Road, and then you're at the Pokémon League!" Professor Araragi paused to look back at them.

"…You guys really have come a long way. You look so much more different from the little kids that I showed around Karakusa Town's Pokémon Center… do you remember that? Back then, you were all so cute and innocent… but anyway. Guys… have you had a fun time on this journey?"

The four of them all nodded. "Yeah!"

She smiled. "That's great! That's all I needed to hear… But don't push yourselves too hard, okay? After all, it's all my fault that you guys went on this journey in order to fill up the Pokédex for me… but you've done a great job! The friendship between people and Pokémon should never change!… which reminds me. We still haven't found a way to revive Zekrom from the Dark Stone. But I'm sure we'll figure it out at some point. No need to worry until then, 'kay?"

They nodded, and so the professor continued talking because she didn't know how to be quiet for once. "Oh, that's right! I've got a present for you guys… but I only have one of it. Here you go…" Professor Araragi reached into her lab coat pocket and took out a purple Poké Ball. There was the letter M printed on it, and two lighter purple bumps on it.

Belle and Danny stood dumbfounded at the sight of it, so Cheren decided to take it from the professor.

"That's a Master Ball," Professor Araragi said. "It catches any Pokémon without fail! So use it wisely, okay?" For some reason, she let out a long sigh, and stared at them with some odd look that may have been a look of respect. "…From here on out, you guys do what you want. Just be careful, okay? Okay, then… Bye!"

With a wave of her hand, Professor Araragi walked around the four and began going off somewhere, her lab coat swishing after her. Belle, Danny, Cheren, and Iris watched her walk away, and Cheren said, "…Thank you very much, Professor Araragi."

And then Danny and Belle started hysterically crying and Cheren and Iris tried desperately to pretend they didn't know who the two crying girls were.

* * *

_Author's Notes_: Why the hell must Professor Araragi appear at the worst of times and make me walk in the _opposite_ direction of the Pokemon Center that I desperately need to go to? You're only making the walking distance longer, you creepy stalker lady!


	61. Chapter Sixty

_Author's Notes_: I wonder is all Emboar smell like bacon when they use fire moves? *shot*

I loved the badge check gate thing. After I went through it, I decided to go back and do it again because it was fun. Yes, I have nothing else better to do.

* * *

Chapter Sixty

After Iris and Belle went and healed their Pokémon, they left the Pokémon Center and headed out onto Route 10. There were plenty of trees and grass, as well as trainers. A stream ran along underneath a bridge, and there were rocky hills everywhere.

"So," Danny started as they crossed over the bridge, "something's been bothering me for a while… remember back when Cheren and I had a battle?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember how he got all weird and ran away? Cheren, why'd you do that?"

Cheren flinched in response to this question. The other seven stopped walking, staring at Cheren, who was staring at the ground in response to this. They stared and stared at him, but Cheren didn't show any sign of getting ready to talk, and simply avoided their stares.

"Cheren…" Brendan slowly began. "We aren't going to start walking until you tell us."

"N-no. I'm not telling you why!"

Brendan sighed and shrugged. "Fine. I'll just have to start asking weird things, and let me tell you, this is going to _very_ uncomfortable for everyone involved." Cheren didn't have a response, and so Brendan began. "You ran away because you didn't want to face me and my good looks after your devastating loss?"

"What?"

"You ran away because the smell of bacon was driving you crazy?"

"No!"

Belle whispered, "It does always smell like bacon when Fire Pig uses Heat Stamp, doesn't it…?" Danny nodded in agreement.

"You ran away because you suddenly realized how short Touko's shorts were?"

"What the heck, no!"

"Okay…" Brendan tapped his chin, thinking for a moment. "You were afraid that my sister was going to take you on a Pokémon catching spree?"

Cheren shuddered. "…No!"

"Yeah, she's already doing that right now." Brendan jabbed his thumb in the direction of where Pearl was chasing Pokémon through the tall grass. "Anyways… you realized Touya was gay for N?"

Touya stared at Brendan. "What?"

"Oh, yeah, I think we left Touya behind at the Pokémon Center," Touko said and shrugged. "Oh well."

"You ran away because you suddenly felt a light, refreshing breeze and realized you weren't wearing underwear?"

"No."

"Okay… 69."

"What? No."

Brendan sighed and shook his head. "Come on, Cheren, I'm running out of options… Oh. Oho, I think I just thought of something…" Brendan grinned like he was a creeper and said, "Cheren… you ran away because not only were you embarrassed that you lost to Danny in front of everyone, but also because you couldn't believe that you lost only to Fire Pig?"

Cheren's eyes widened just a little bit, and then he looked down at that ground and mumbled, "…Maybe."

"And also, because that was when you realized you suddenly had feelings for Danny."

Cheren's head shot back up and he snapped, "N-no! And, besides, we're here! The badge check gate!"

Sure enough, they'd arrived at the stone building that was built into the side of a mountain. White stone steps led up to the entrance of the building, the walls a brownish color. Poké Ball patterns dotted the walls.

Touya walked up to the building and peeked through the narrow entrance. "…Huh. It just goes to the other side… How is this it?"

"Whatever," Brendan said, joining Touya at the gate and walking on through the gate. One by one, the others followed him, and Pearl was the last one to run through after having noticed that they'd left her behind.

On the other side, they were in a wide canyon, where a stone gate lay up ahead, its entrance guarded by a man in black. As they approached him, the man shouted out, "You there! Stop! We need to do a check, first, before we can open this gate! First off… the Tri Badge!"

"Huh?"

Brendan elbowed Danny, who was unfortunate enough to have been standing beside him. "Hey. Guys, take out your first badge."

They quickly took out the Tri Badge and showed it to the man, who simply nodded in response. The doors swung open, leading into the next area, which was like a small garden. They walked through a small, vine covered gate, crossed over a tiny bridge, and were in front of the second gate, also guarded by a man in black. Two pillars stood alongside the gate, flames atop them.

"The Basic Badge!" the man yelled.

Those of them with that badge quickly took it out and showed it to the man, who nodded. The gates swung open and they walked on through the next area, which was also covered in grass and plants.

By now, Danny had noticed that the gates they were approaching had the imprint of the badge they were supposed to show. Therefore, the next badge would be…

"The Beetle Badge!"

They showed the man the Beetle Badge, and the gates swung open again. They ran through it, walking up a flight of stairs that went over a stone statue which vaguely looked like a bug.

"The Bolt Badge!"

The farther they went on, the less of them had the badges necessary to go through. However, that didn't seem to be a problem, as the gates opened up even if only one of them had the badge. Also, no one seemed to notice that Cheren didn't have the Bolt Badge.

The next area led over a gated floor, with several electrical generators connected to it. Next to the man who was guarding the gate there stood a blue haired boy who didn't seem to notice the eight kids approaching them.

"The Quake Badge!"

Danny, Cheren, and Belle showed the man their badges, and the gates swung open yet again. The next area had rather uneven ground as it led them up to the next gate.

"The Jet Badge!" the man shouted once they arrived at the gate.

They showed their sixth badge to the man, and the gates opened up. A fog hung over the next area, and as they reached the middle of the area, they noticed that it was completely gone. All that was there was a breeze that blew upwards.

"…So," Touko began, "how're we supposed to get across this?"

"Like this!" Belle shouted, shoving Touko over the edge. Naturally, everyone screamed at Belle's action, but quickly calmed down once they realized that Touko hadn't fallen to her death. In fact, Touko actually seemed to be floating over the empty space.

"Woohoo, it's breezy!" Touko finally said. She looked back at them. "…Belle, were you trying to kill me? What if this convenient breeze wasn't here, huh?"

Belle laughed. "I didn't think about that! Whoops!"

Either way, one by one, they all hesitantly floated their way across the area, landing on the other side and running up to the next gate.

"The Icicle Badge!"

As Danny took out the next badge, Brendan randomly said, "I already have a good idea of what the next area's gonna be like…"

As the gate swung open, they were blasted by cold air… and they saw that the next area was, predictably, covered in ice. Larger icicles jutted out of the ice field, and before anyone said anything, Belle shoved Touko out onto the ice, watching her slip and scream.

"Damn it! BELLE!"

Belle only grinned in satisfaction as she followed her friends out onto the ice. It didn't take them very long to get across it and onto the solid ground, where the man shouted out, "The Legend Badge!" once they reached the gate.

Danny, Cheren, and Belle took out the last badge and showed it to the man, who like the previous men, simply nodded in response. The doors swung open, but then the man started to say something else to them.

"Up ahead in the Victory Road, and then you'll be at the Pokémon League!"

The last area they had to go through had two dragons carved out of stone, and the final gate was ahead of them, which looked extremely similar to the first gate they'd gone through at the very beginning. They walked on through it, and they arrived at a tall mountain, where there were lots of ledges and cave openings.

This was the Victory Road.


	62. Chapter Sixty One

_Author's Notes_: MY GOD, THIS STORY'S NEVER GOING TO FREAKING END, IS IT?

Ahem... this Victory Road is the easiest one out of all the Pokemon games, in my opinion. Seriously.

Oh, yeah. Aianto's English name is Durant, and I primarily battled them to train my Pokemon. Thank you, extreme weakness to fire moves.

This chapter was fun to write, by the way.

* * *

Chapter Sixty-One

"Holy shit, what the shit is that?" Pearl screeched, jabbing her finger at a gray, spider Pokémon that had just skittered out in front of them from behind a rock.

"That's my mom!" Danny answered proudly. "Also, is what the shit a phrase? 'Cause I'm gonna use it from now on!"

Cheren had taken out his Pokédex and was pointing it at the spider Pokémon. "Let's see… that Pokémon is called Aiando and-"

Pearl was already running towards the cave exit up ahead, screaming like a little girl and getting away from the spider Pokémon as fast as she could. Apparently, she didn't do well around spiders.

Running outside, Pearl found herself a little bit higher up the mountain, but still nowhere near the top. She spotted a man in black up on a higher level, along with a blue haired boy who Pearl could've sworn was the same one she saw back at the badge check gate.

"Now! Slide down the mountain, like this!" the older man shouted. He ran up to the edge of the cliff and slide down the side of it, landing on the path that Pearl was standing at.

"Heeee!" the boy screamed gaily. "I'm scared! It's impossible!" He stayed where he was, shaking like a leaf.

The man was unimpressed, snorting and then abruptly noticing Pearl. "Surely, you have more courage than that boy up there."

"Yes," Pearl lied. Even though she'd just finished running like hell out of the cave because they ran into a spider Pokémon.

"Pearl! Look, look!"

Pearl turned around at the sound of Danny's voice, only to see that in Danny's hands was the spider Pokémon from back inside the cave. Danny held it out to her.

"See? Isn't he so cutteeeee?"

Pearl screamed like someone was murdering her and ran down the side of the cliff, skidding down to a lower level and continuing to scream as she ran into another cave.

Danny sighed in response, patting the Pokémon's head and setting it down on the ground, where it proceeded to skitter off back into the cave it'd been in just a moment ago.

* * *

A while later, Danny, Brendan, Cheren, Belle, Touya, Touko, and Iris finally caught up with Pearl, who ran in and out of the various caves and now sat on the ground, completely exhausted.

"Did you have a nice run?" Brendan asked upon reaching her.

"Shut up."

"Pearl, Pearl, look, look!"

Pearl hesitantly looked up at Danny, half expecting her to have that damn spider Pokémon in her hands again. However, instead, Danny was holding a fluffy, blue one with a heart shaped eye and little black wings. It was… kinda cute.

"That's nice," Pearl said. "Now let it go and stop harassing the wild Pokémon."

Danny made some kind of pouting face and let go of the Pokémon, who flapped its little wings and flew away. Then, Danny spotted another nearby Pokémon and went to go pick it up.

"Pearl, hey! Look!"

Sighing, Pearl looked up at Danny again, who now held…

"GETTHATTHINGAWAYFROMMEEEEEE!" Pearl got up and ran at the speed of light, leaving them all behind after she saw that Danny had picked up that spider Pokémon again.

"I think it's cute…" Danny mumbled as she patted the spider's head. She gasped. "No, wait… is Pearl a racist?"

Brendan laughed hysterically at this while everyone else just stared at Danny.

* * *

Pearl sat down on the ground, exhausted yet again. All of her crazy, psychotic running had brought her a long way through the mountain, as well as losing sight of her friends. And now that she looked over the edge, Pearl saw that she was at the very top of the mountain.

Which would mean…

A narrow path lead from the area Pearl was in, leading up to some buildings in the distance. Pearl was, honestly, too exhausted to get up and walk the rest of the way there, and now she was realizing that she was hungry.

Taking off her backpack, Pearl looked inside, hoping that there might be something edible in there. She found a disintegrating apple and some kind of unidentifiable candy from who-knows-when.

Just as Pearl was considering whether or not eating that apple would give her food poisoning, she heard something hop up to her. "_Wa_?"

Standing there was a fluffy, little bird Pokémon, staring up at Pearl curiously. It seemed to be staring at the apple in her hand, its eyes sparkling…

"You want this?" Pearl asked. She held out the disgusting apple to the bird Pokémon, who took it in its beak and hopped away happily.

Sighing, Pearl returned to look inside her backpack. She took out that mysterious candy, which she abruptly realized she still couldn't identify. Pearl wondered what would happen if she ate that when she heard something else come up to her.

"HOLY-" Pearl screamed and dramatically fell to her side at the sight of that damn spider Pokémon that appeared in the caves far too commonly. It was staring at her, and Pearl was hoping that it wasn't intending to eat her… when she realized that it was staring at the Unidentifiable Candy in her hand.

…Could bug Pokémon even _eat_ candy? Much less candy that was unidentifiable?

"Oh… do you want this?" Pearl asked, hesitantly holding out the candy to the spider Pokémon. It reached out and took the candy from her with the little pinchers on its mouth, and quickly ran back into a nearby cave. Pearl nearly had a heart attack from being that close to it.

"Aw, Pearl, you really are soft-hearted for hungry Pokémon, aren't you? That's so cute!~"

Pearl glared at the cave the spider Pokémon had run into to see Brendan, Danny, Belle, Cheren, Iris, Touko, and Touya coming out of it. "Did you send that damn spider thing out at me? I could've been eaten by it for all you know!"

Brendan didn't answer, but he looked like he would start hysterically laughing at any moment.

"Aww, Pearl, that was really nice of you!" Belle happily said as she clasped her hands together. "We were, like, betting that you'd eat that Pokémon instead of giving it that candy bar!"

"Wait, that was a candy bar?" Touya whispered.

"I'd never eat that Pokémon!" Pearl said in horror.

"That's right, Pearl's too prissy to do that. If she's scared of it, she won't eat it. Usually."

"Brendan, I swear to Arceus that I'll-"

Danny did some timely interrupting by pointing at the buildings in the distance. "Is that the Pokémon League?"

"I think so… let's go. I hope they have A/C, 'cause I'm sweating like a pig right now."

"As opposed to how you always sweat like a pi-"

Brendan never got to finish his sentence, because Pearl finally snapped and started beating him up. The other six just decided to walk on ahead up to the Pokémon League building.

As they got closer to it, they saw that there were four tall pillars surrounding a stone platform. There was a smaller building in front of those ones, and off in the distance there was a long staircase leading up to another building.

"Is this the Pokémon League?" Pearl asked the first man they spotted there. Apparently she'd finished killing Brendan, who was walking back behind them and rubbing at his nose, which was currently bleeding.

The man nodded. "Yep. This building over here-" He pointed at the smaller building there. "-is where the Pokémon Center is. We've opened up the Pokémon League early on the request of the champion, so feel free to take on the challenge whenever you'd like."

After the man finished talking, the eight of them headed to the smaller building, which was like a tiny version of the Pokémon Center. After healing their Pokémon, they sat down on the chairs there. It was silent, and there was a T.V. hanging in the corner of the room, the screen divided into four different areas.

"So, now what?" Belle finally asked.

"I guess we challenge the Pokémon League?" Touya suggested, sipping out of a mysterious juice box.

Pearl stared at Touya and his Mysterious Juice Box for a moment. "Yeah, but… do you think that N guy is here?" she asked, making sure to whisper at the N guy part in case there were secret agents spying on them.

"Maybe, maybe not. That's why the League was opened early, right?"

"…So we're just gonna sit around and wait until we spot N?"

Brendan simply, and randomly, said, "I'd like to beat the shit out of him when I see him."

"Speaking of," Danny said and hopped up from her seat. "Guess what?"

Everyone responded with an unenthusiastic "Whaaatttt?" Except for Belle, who screamed, "WHAT? TELL ME, TELL ME!"

Danny dramatically paused and then said, "Both Hitomoshi and Ed evolved back in the caves! Yo!"

Belle shrieked and Brendan's ear started to mysteriously bleed after her scream.

"…We already knew that," Touya responded, still drinking his Mysterious Juice Box, which had mysteriously changed flavors.

"I didn't know that," Pearl said. She looked over at Danny and waved her hand. "Go on, young grasshopper! What'd they evolve into?"

"Rankurusu and Ranpuraa!"

Pearl jumped up and happily shouted, "I have no idea what those are! BUT, YEAHHH!"

Danny took out two Poké Balls, pressing the buttons on them and letting out the two Pokémon in question. Ed still looked like a green blob, but now he had large arms that could probably CRUSH THE UNIVERSE IN HIS HANDS. The tinier body inside the green jelly had small arms and legs.

Hitomoshi now looked like a black lamp, with skinny black arms and a little face. She lacked the creepiness she previously had as a Hitomoshi, which was probably better for the various Pokémon that were still scared of her.

"Ed, Hitomoshi, come give Mama a hug!" Danny squealed and held out her arms. Ed instantly flung himself at her, finally able to hug her with his MANLY ARMS. "Hitomoshi" simply looked at them like they were extra tasty snacks.

"She keeps called Ranpuraa Hitomoshi," Cheren explained with a wave of his hand. "She's such a confused woman."

Belle suddenly screamed and caused Brendan's other ear to start bleeding. She jumped up and clapped her hands, practically jumping around. "I just got an awesome idea! We should all challenge the Pokémon League! Like, like, we'll have a contest! Whoever can get to the champion first wings!"

"But," Brendan interrupted, unaware of his bleeding ears, "I think there's only four Elite Four… no, wait, that sound really stupid. What I meant was… if we were to have a contest, only four of us could do it. And even then, uh… yeah. I'm using my brain too much."

"Wild Brendans don't work well in heat."

"Danny, that was a weird comment."

Touko, who'd miraculously remained silent the entire time, spoke up. "I think Belle's contest idea is a good idea… Though I'm not good at battling, and my Tsutarja is still a Tsutarja who talks like he's some kind of philosopher. Anyways, which of you're gonna do this thing?"

Danny shouted, "ME! I WILL!"

Belle screamed again. "ME! PICK ME, I WILL! I WANNA DO IT!"

Cheren sighed like he had a busy life and said, "I'll do it, too…"

"Okay, so that's three… but who else?" Touko seemed to think for a moment, and looked over at Brendan, whose nose was bleeding again out of both nostrils from Belle's scream. "Brendan? You wanna do it? You seem lie you'd totally beat them in, like, 10 seconds flat."

Brendan laughed gaily and waved his hands around. "Nooo, you flatter me too much… Heehee."

Touya, who was still drinking out his Mysterious Juice Box, which had changed its flavor for the third time, raise his hand. "…I'll do it."

Everyone looked at Touya with blank expressions. "Huh?"

"I said I'll join the contest. I'll challenge the Elite Four, too."

Ed exploded from this announcement.

* * *

_Author's Notes_: So... Hitomoshi and Ed both evolved, and Ed still explodes from excitement. WE'VE COME SO FREAKING FAR.


	63. Chapter Sixty Two VS Shikimi

_Author's Notes_: SHIIII- Shikimi was the toughest one for me to beat. I lost to her so many times that she should be rich from all the damn money I lost to her. The one time I managed to beat her was simply by challenging her last. And even then, I was so close to losing that it wasn't even funny.

Shikimi's English name is Shauntal. Desukarn's English name is Cofagrigus, which never fails to make me laugh.

* * *

Chapter Sixty-Two

"The rules are simple. Just battle against the Elite Four and the champion and win! Much like the name suggests, there's four of the Elite Four, and you can battle them in any order you'd like. However, keep in mind that once you start the challenge, you can't quit until you either win against all of them, or lose."

"…Huh?"

The guard talking blinked a couple of times at Danny's "huh?" Probably because what he said wasn't difficult to understand. But, nonetheless, he started rephrasing what he said into a simpler way for Danny to understand.

"What I mean is… let's say you really need to heal your Pokémon, but you've only defeated one of the Elite Four, and you still have Pokémon able to battle. You can't just leave and head back to the Pokémon Center. You'll have to bring your own medicine, and manually heal your Pokémon."

Seeing as how Danny seemed to be understanding everything so far, the guard continued explaining. "You also can't decide to quit in the middle of the challenge, like I already mentioned. If you suddenly think, 'Oh, wow, these guys are way too strong! I should go back and train!'… You can't do that. You'll have to continue your challenge until you either win against all four of them and the champion, or lose. So… are you guys ready?"

Danny glanced over at Cheren, Belle, and Touya. The four of them had lined up in front of the platform that was the center of the four Elite Four buildings, and the guard there was giving them the basic rules. Everyone else was back in the Pokémon Center, watching the battles that would be displayed on the T.V. there.

"Guys… what's he mean by bring your own medicine? Where do you get that stuff? How do you use it?"

Cheren looked at her like she was stupid. "…Wow," he simply said. He looked back up at the man and fixed his glasses. "Sorry, sir, we'll be ready in a moment."

Grabbing Danny's arm, Cheren dragged her back to the Pokémon Center, leading her over to the counter in the corner area, where two men sat with identical grins on their faces. He pointed at them. "…Now. You have money, so go buy some medicine."

"But… I don't think my pockets can hold all of it!"

"…Have you been sticking everything you've gotten so far in your pockets?"

Danny stared at him, and lied, "No. What would make you say that?"

Cheren sighed and looked over at the others, who'd turned away from the television to stare at them. "Do any of you have a bag for Danny to use?" he asked.

Touko walked over, holding out her pink bag. "Here you go. This one already has medicine and stuff in it, so you can use them if you'd like."

"Thanks," Cheren responded, taking the bag and practically throwing it at Danny. "Here! There's a bag, now use it!"

A few minutes later, after Danny have bought a sufficient amount of medicine and, for some reason, Poké Ball, Cheren and Danny hurried back to where Touya and Belle had patiently waited for them. Danny was taking things out of her skirt pockets, which apparently stretched on to endless depths.

"Okay, we're ready now."

The guard nodded, stepping aside to let them walk up on the platform. "Then, please continue on! Good luck!"

The four walked out onto the platform, and once they were there, a tall, black gate rose up from where they'd entered. Essentially trapping them there. Though it wouldn't be particularly difficult to simply climb up over it, but…

"So. We'll each challenge one of these guys. I'll start with that one," Cheren said, pointing at the pillar directly to their right.

"I'll go to this one, then," Touya said and pointed at the pillar in the top left area.

"I choose this one!" Belle practically shouted, hopping around as she pointed at the one in the top right.

Danny pointed at the final pillar remaining. "Then… I guess I'll go to this one," she said. "Good luck, guys!"

"Good luck!"

And the four of them split up and walked into the pillars they'd picked.

The room that Danny picked was extremely dark, but Danny could still see because of the various flames that were illuminating the area. A spiral staircase wound around tall bookshelves, all the way to the top of the room.

Deciding it was best to just go up the staircase, Danny didn't get too far up before two blue flames suddenly surrounded her. They spun around, lifting her up and around the staircase. Well. At least she wouldn't have the walk up the stairs herself, but last time Danny checked, two flames couldn't pick up a person.

The flames dropped Danny off at a wooden platform, where a desk sat at the back of it, and papers were all over the floor. A giant window was there, and lightning flashed outside of it. Though Danny was sure that it was bright and sunny just a few seconds ago.

Also, Danny wasn't alone up there.

A woman was there, a book in one hand and a pen in the other. She had short, purple hair and glasses, and had a puffy black scarf tightened together with a red button. She had a short purple dress, black gloves, and stockings on.

"Eyes brimming with dark flames, this man rejected everything other than himself in order to bring about one singular justice…"

Danny blinked a couple of times and asked, "What?"

The woman looked up from the book and gave a slight smile. "That was from a book I'm writing. A little while ago, there was a challenger like that, and that's where I got my inspiration… something about him seemed sad, though… Oh, I'm so sorry!" She shook her head around, and then looked back at Danny. "You're the current challenger, hmm? I'm the ghost-type user of the Elite Four! Shikimi! Pleased to make your acquaintance!"

"Oh, uh, yeah…" Danny mumbled. "…Huh? Wait, there was a challenger here earlier?"

"Well… yes." Shikimi tilted her head to the side, looking a bit confused with Danny's question. "We always have a lot of challengers when we're open, so when we decided to open a little bit earlier than usual… we've gotten even more challengers! You seem a little surprised…"

"Oh… no. It's nothing. I was just a little… you know, um… what's the word?"

"Paranoid!" Shikimi said with a grin. Then she jumped a little, like she suddenly got a great idea, and flipped to a different page of the book, scribbling in it. 'The blonde haired girl looked ever so slightly unnerved at the thought of someone being here beforehand…'"

"What? You never even used the word paranoid there… what?"

"Well, that word simply made me come up with that… oh, wait, that's right, I almost forgot! Shall we get started with our battle?" Not waiting for Danny's answer, Shikimi reached into her scarf and took out a Poké Ball, tossing it into the air. "Go, Desukarn!"

A weird, coffin-like Pokémon with a face and shadowy arms came out of the Poké Ball and stood… no, floated in front of Shikimi. Danny stared at it for a moment before letting out her own Pokémon…

"Ed, I choose you! Use Psychic!"

"Desukarn, use Shadow Ball!"

Desukarn was faster than Ed, predictably, and conjured up a black blob of something in its hands. The ball shot out, slamming into Ed, who momentarily melted into a puddle before popping back up. He tightened his fists, focusing on Desukarn, and suddenly some unseen power slammed into Desukarn.

Shikimi suddenly clapped her hands together. "Ooh! That's a great story idea! Let's see… 'The Rankurusu's trainer called out a command, terrified but managing to stay brave…'"

"Hey! Who's terrified?"

"You are… your knees are shaking."

Sure enough, Danny's knees were doing just that. Danny shook her head. "Uh… I have low blood sugar right now!" she lied. "…Ed, use Psychic again!"

"Shadow Ball!"

Once again, Desukarn blasted Ed with a black blob of something that was most likely shadows. Ed melted down into a puddle, but didn't return to his typical form. So had he fainted, or was he just excited…?

Not bothering to take any chances, Danny returned Ed to his Poké Ball. She took out another one and shouted, "Go, Fire Pig!"

Fire Pig heroically came out, striking a pose, and then he saw the Pokémon he was facing, shrieked like a little girl, and ran to hide behind Danny. Crouching down as if that would make him go unnoticed (which was highly unlikely), he stammered, "D-D-Danny, I can't do it! There's n-n-no way!"

"What? Why not?"

"B-because! It's a ghost… and I'm scared of ghosts!"

"Come on! Can't you get over your fear? Just this once? Pleaaseeee?"

"Oh… well, since you said please…" Fire Pig ran back out to stand in front of Danny, hopping around excitedly. If one listened carefully, they could hear the wooden floorboards creaking… "Let's _do_ this! Booyah!"

Danny punched her fist in the air. "YEAAAHHH! HEAT STAMP, BABY!~"

Fire Pig jumped up in the air, twirling like an ungraceful ballerina, and ignited himself in flames. Shikimi shouted out a command for Desukarn - "Psychic!" - just as Fire Pig came down on Desukarn. Sadly, before the fury of Fire Pig's flaming butt was able to settle in on the coffin Pokémon, he was blasted off by Desukarn, rolling across the floor and being caught by Danny. Who barely had the strength to hold up the pig Pokémon.

"Woohoo! Fire Pig… is so _not_ ready for this! Danny, please, return me to my Poké Ball! I'm not mentally prepared for this!"

"Owww! Get off of me, you're freaking heavvvyyyy! Ow, ow, _ow_!"


	64. Chapter Sixty Three

_Author's Notes_: This chapter features many important things. So you mustn't skip it. Because the next chapter, which I am busy rewriting, wouldn't make sense elsewise.

Thank you all for the reviews, so far. At 66 reviews, it's my most reviewed story so far! Yaaaaay.

Tiger's a roly-poly. Roly-poly's are fun to poke at. When I was little, I used to poke them with pencils. Nowadays, the only insects I see are spiders of all shapes and sizes, weird little black ones, beetle things that fly and that we like to call "timothies", giant, noisy flies, and bees. And wasps. In other words, things I don't like. Oh, but once we found a black and orange fuzzy catepillar who turned into a moth and died.

That has absolutely _nothing_ to do with this chapter.

* * *

Chapter Sixty-Three

"Wow… that's a new record loss," Pearl said, taking out a notepad from some mysterious location and scribbling down on it. "Let me write that one down… in any case, Danny, you lost really quickly."

"…But I was so close!" Danny whined.

Pearl looked up at her with an expressionless face. "How many of their Pokémon did you know out?"

"Zero!" Danny proudly answered. Pearl smacked her with the notepad. It wasn't very effective.

"How is that anywhere near close?"

"It was, though! I mean, I _think_ I was really close to knocking of Desu… desu… whatever its name was. Let's call it Desudesu."

"You know you can just go ahead and challenge them again, right?"

Danny seemed to be considering this option when the Pokémon Center nurse called out her name, "Miss Danny! Your Pokémon are completely healed!"

After getting her Pokémon back from the nurse, Danny went back to where her friends were. Glancing up at the T.V., Danny saw the battles going on in the other four rooms… well, only three battles were going on since Danny had epically lost her battle in less than 5 minutes.

"Don't worry, Danny!" Brendan suddenly said, twirling around gaily before placing a hand on her shoulder. "You can train with the always fabulously strong Brendan! Whaddya say?"

"Um… can I use one of my lifelines please?" Danny asked.

"In other words," Pearl said, scribbling doodles that looked like they were done by a drunk man, "she doesn't want your stinkin' training, you fairy."

Brendan fell dramatically to the floor and died.

"Danny, you wanna come train with me instead?" Iris asked with a grin.

Danny nodded. "Sure!"

As Danny and Iris left the Pokémon Center, Brendan could be heard pitifully squeaking like a dying mouse.

* * *

"Okay, so let's start our training!… Who should we start with?"

"Tiger!"

Iris nodded, watching as Danny sent out the bug type Pokémon. Iris took out a Poké Ball and sent out the Onondo she'd used the other day. "'Kay, Onondo! We aren't going to be attacking right now… for now, just let Tiger attack you, okay?"

"Tiger, use Razor Leaf!" Danny shouted.

Tiger shuffled around, taking out a mysteriously placed sharp leaf and attempting to toss it at Onondo. The leaf fluttered to the ground and Tiger tripped on nothing, landing face down and rolling around while making weird noises.

"…I don't think he can get up," Iris's Onondo observed. Danny realized that it could talk, which made her realize that all of their Pokémon must've known about Onondo's existence from when Brendan's Swampert gave them speech lessons.

Tiger continued rolling around while making muffled noises.

"What should we do?"

"Um… just return him to his Poké Ball. Let's train a different Pokémon."

Tiger's training time = under a minute.

"Okay, then… go, Ed!" Danny shouted after having returned the roly-poly Tiger. Ed glanced back at Danny. "…We're training, Ed! It's your turn n-"

Danny didn't get to finish her sentence. Ed exploded from the awesome excitement and splattered all around the ground. Danny returned Ed without a word, while Iris was silently wondering how Danny possibly could've reached the Pokémon League with Pokémon like that.

"Go, Doc!" Danny sent out the Tabunne, who did a quick look around the area - they were at the Victory Road - and looked at Danny.

"This isn't the land of Oz."

"What? We're training."

"Oh," Doc said and turned back to Iris and Onondo. "…So, what do we do?"

"Let's see… attack Onondo with Double Slap?"

Doc clicked her tongue and shook her head. "I'm a pacifist."

Danny started laughing hysterically, and then abruptly stopped. "…That was funny."

"I'm serious."

"No, you're not. I've seen how you act in a battle."

"Danny, don't make me come over there."

"Stop being a racist!"

Iris sighed. This wasn't going to be getting anywhere anytime soon.

Five minutes later, and after having Danny switch Pokémon after she was brutally beat up by a fearsome Tabunne, and they were training Hitomoshi. Whose nickname was now Hitomoshi, according to Danny.

"What moves does Ranpuraa-"

"Hitomoshi!"

Iris sighed. "What moves does _Hitomoshi_ know?"

"…Um… Will-o-wisp, Hex, Flame Burst, and Block."

"Hmm… maybe you should teach Ranpuraa-"

"Hitomoshi!"

"-Shadow Ball."

Danny frowned. "…How do we do that?"

"Well, I don't have any TMs with that move… so we'll have to do it manually."

Danny gasped. "Iris? Do you know magic?"

Iris stared at Danny. "…I wonder about your head sometimes, Danny. I really do wonder."

* * *

Nearly an hour later, Iris and Danny returned to the Pokémon League, where they found some sort of gathering at the middle of the platform that connected the Elite Four pillars. There was a statue there, Danny just noticed, but that had nothing to do with the current situation.

Standing there was Touko, Pearl, Cheren, and Belle, along with the Elite Four member Danny had battled earlier, Shikimi. Three people stood alongside Shikimi. And in the center of them all…

Sat Brendan, looking as innocent as he could be.

Iris sighed. "What happened?" she asked once she and Danny reached them.

Danny noticed that Shikimi was bawling her eyes out, and the three people alongside her also had various unpleasant expressions. There was a tall man in a blue suit and a long, yellow scarf, a young girl with ridiculously long hair, and a dark skinned man who looked like he could kill someone if he hugged them.

"This boy," the man with the scarf began, narrowing his eyes at Brendan, "complimented me on my good looks. Then he realized I was a man, and he screamed and ran away."

Still crying her eyes out, Shikimi managed to say, "He said, 'Oh, what lovely breasts you have!' And I asked him, 'What?' and then, and then he said, 'What I meant was, look at the lovely lightning in the west!' And the window wasn't even _in_ the west!"

"I was sleeping," the little girl said and yawned, "and he was trying to be quiet while he snuck into my room, but then he woke me up because he failed to be quiet. Then, he said, 'This is all a dream! On the count of three, I'll be gone, and you'll return to your regularly scheduled dreaming.' He counted to three, and he wasn't gone."

The final guy simply said, while looking extremely uncomfortable, "He tried to touch my muscles…"

"Wow, Brendan, you really went on a spree, didn't you?" Touko asked.

Pearl quickly bowed and said, "I'm so sorry for my brother's actions! You don't have to forgive him! But… you can hit him, if you'd like."

Iris walked up to Brendan and smacked the back of his head. "Bad Brendan! No biscuits for you!"

Pearl finally stopped bowing and apologizing, having said 'sorry' nearly 20 times. She glared at Brendan for a moment and looked back at the four people. "Um… I'm so sorry, once again. Brendan told us he was going to challenge you guys, but… I didn't expect him to… do what he did."

"Ohhhh!" Danny suddenly exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "…I just realized that these guys are the rest of the Elite Four! Am I stupid or what?"

The man with the scarf didn't acknowledge Danny's statement, and said, "It's not much of a problem… But, well, it'd be nice if _he_ was the one apologizing."

"I'm not going to apologize!" Brendan suddenly said. "Because I did NOTHING wrong!… Except to you, lady." He waved his hand in Shikimi's direction. "That was a misfortunate slipup because I was drinking Pokémon-oriented drinks before I took on the challenge. Sorry for that."

By now, Pearl had stepped closer to the Elite Four, and was bending down to stare at the little girl. "…Hey. Wait a second… You couldn't possibly be… Caitlin from the Sinnoh Battle Frontier?"

The girl's eyes widened, and then narrowed. "…How did you possibly know that?"

"Did you forget me?"

"You're not very memorably, great sist-"

Pearl twirled around, kicked Brendan upside the head, and turned back to the little girl, Caitlin. "I'm Pearl! Pearl Birch! I was there when we all went to the Great Marsh, and I was the one who gave Raven some of the Pokémon she used when she battled Darach!"

Caitlin stared at Pearl for a moment, and then slowly said, "Ohhh! I remember you… sort of. I… do remember going to the Great Marsh… oh. That's right." She yawned again, looking like she was about to fall asleep right there. "…How's Raven?"

"I don't know. Knowing her, she's probably fine. Oh, but anyways, how'd you become one of the Elite Four so quickly? You just came here in, like, July, right? What month is it right now…?"

As Caitlin and Pearl continued talking to each other, everyone else was completely confused as to what to do. It'd probably be the safest option to just walk away, but Pearl might snap and eat one of them if they did so. So they stayed there, watching as Brendan recollected his brain that'd fallen out of his head when Pearl kicked him.

No. Not really.

"Um… 'scuse me…" Shikimi began, rubbing her eyes and finally having stopped crying. "Caitlin, how do you know this girl…?"

"She was one of the people who became friends with me back in Sinnoh."

"…Oh."

"Oh, yes, that reminds me… Everyone. These people are my co-workers here at the Pokémon League. Shikimi, Giima, and Renbu." Caitlin pointed at the three of them as she said their names.

Pearl smiled like she was a nice girl. Which was funny if you knew her. But they didn't, so they didn't suspect a thing. "Nice to meet you! My name's Pearl!… and you've already met Brendan. These other guys are people we've been traveling with since we came to Isshu. Um… the girl with the short shorts is Touko, the girl with the green hat is Belle, the blonde girl whose standing there with a dumb expression is Danny, the short girl is Iris, and the forehead boy is Cheren."

"Short?"

"My forehead isn't-"

"Oh, yeah!" Pearl clapped her hands together for no reason. "Danny's also Raven's cousin, and I can't believe I didn't notice their similarities sooner. But, that's right, maybe we should go sit down in the Pokémon Center and… oh. Hey, where's Touya?"

"…Oh? Touya's not here? I didn't notice."

"Belle, don't tell him you said that. But, seriously though, he's really not here…"

"Maybe he committed suicide," Touko suggested with a straight face.

"Don't joke about that, Touko."

Pearl frowned, tapping her chin and playing detective. The Great Detective Pearl suddenly came up with a brilliant idea and looked over at the Elite Four. "Say! Did Touya come by and challenge any of you? Oh, that's right, he has a baseball cap, and he wears blue, and-"

The four of them all spoke at the same time, and though they all said something different, they all meant the same thing:

"Oh, yes, a boy like that challenge me. And won."

"A boy like that came by earlier. I still can't believe I lost to him…"

"Ah, yeah, someone like that did come to my room! After he won, I didn't even noticed that he'd left! It was as if he disappeared… ooh, there's an idea! Let's see… 'The mysterious boy disappeared without a trace, leaving-' Oh, wait, you guys! He defeated you, too?"

The Elite Four all looked at one another after they spoke simultaneously, and Pearl sighed. She glanced around, looking confused, and said, "Wait… if he beat all four of you, then that would mean…"

Belle shrieked and Brendan's ear started to bleed. "Touya won the contest! Yay! No, wait, I wanted to win! That sucks! No, wait, that's awesome, 'cause that means Touya's even awesomer than awesome! YAAY!"

"Where's the champion's room?" Pearl asked.

Caitlin waved her hand at the statue there. "After the four of us are defeated, standing on that brings you down underground. Once you're there, there's a flight of stairs that leads to the building Mr. Adeku's room is at… You may have seen it when you first came here… Huh? Is something the matter?"

Pearl realized that Caitlin was directing that question to the others behind her, and she looked back at them to see they were all staring up at the sky. She followed their gaze to see the sky darkening, lightning rolling through the clouds. A loud rumbling noise, one that didn't belong to the random thunderstorm, could be head, and then the ground started to violently shake.

The ground shattered and cracked, and the roof that covered the platform started cracking. But that was the least of anyone's worries, because something suddenly broke out of the ground, over by the champion's room.

…It was a wall.

Several walls rose out of the ground, rising up behind the champion's building and around the Pokémon League. They rose, higher and higher, all while lightning flashed in the sky. Dust and dirt was flying everywhere as the walls continued to rise.

Finally, the walls stopped, and then several things on the walls opened up. Something shot out of the opened spaces, slamming down all around the Pokémon League, crashing into the ground and building.

And then, the rumbling and shaking stopped.

A giant castle had rose out of the ground, surrounding the League, and long flights of stairs were what had crashed around, connecting the castle to the League.

"Oh," was all Danny said.

"Yeah, oh."

* * *

_Author's Notes_: Awesome pervy Brendan is awesome. The whole idea for that scene came when I was trying to go to bed. So I sketched it out on paper. With a pen. And then the pen had an accident and wet itself on my paper.

What the heck did I just type out...?


	65. Chapter Sixty Four

_Author's Notes_: I'm so sorry that N comes off as totally gay for Touya. I can't help it. Gay overtones come naturally to me. Though no one's complained about it so far.

Also, what the hell have I done. This chapter just takes everything so far... and does something mysterious with it. I'll tell you, whoever may be reading this, about it at the **end of the chapter_._**

DUNDUN.

* * *

Chapter Sixty-Four

"It's finally appeared!" a certain green-haired boy exclaimed, his arms spread out wide. "Team Plasma's castle! The king's words will resound from the heights to all below!"

"H-holy shiiittt…" Touya managed to say, staring up at the castle in shock. "You… you're freaking out of your mind."

"That's okay. By the way, you can come to the castle, too." N shrugged casually, like, hey, this isn't a big deal at all. "After all, you have the Dark Stone, don't you? You and I can rule the world together with Zekrom and Reshiram!"

"…Huh? I don't have the Dark Stone… Danny does."

"…Oh?" N didn't seem fazed by this, and shrugged again. "Is that so? That's odd, I though I'd specified that… no. No matter. Regardless, you can still rule the world with me! We'll just have Danny hand Zekrom over to you. Together, you and I'll rescue all the Pokémon from _all_ the people! And then, only then, will we all become equals… After all, Touya, you feel the same way, don't you?"

Touya managed to choke out, "…I…" before going silent, staring at the ground.

"TOUYA!"

Touya's head snapped up, and he whirled around to see… all of his friends - Touko, Belle, Cheren, Iris, Pearl, Brendan, and Danny - running towards him, where he stood with N and a completely astonished Adeku.

"…Regardless of how your friends feel about this…" N began again, getting Touya's attention, "you're strong, there's no doubt about that. That's why you should rule this new world with me!"

N turned around and started walking up the long flight of stairs that'd slammed down into the champion's room. Finally, Touya's friends reached him and the silent Adeku.

Cheren was the first one to break the silence. "…Mr. Adeku, you're a wreck. It's not fitting for the champion."

Adeku finally snapped out of his shock, shaking his head and looking at the children gathered around him. "…I see you guys have made it here, huh?"

"Someway or another, yeah."

"And Brendan went and messed around with the Elite Four."

"She _did_ have some lovely bre-"

Before Brendan could finish his dangerous comment, he was elbowed in both sides by Pearl and Iris, and karate-chopped on the head by Touko.

"…T… This is kinda scary…" Belle mumbled, staring up at the castle in front of them. "…Um…"

"…Those Elite Four really are tough, though," Cheren said. "I lost to the first one I challenged… unfortunately."

"It's okay, Forehead Boy!" Danny and Pearl shouted, giving him the thumbs-up sign.

"You can come catch Pokémon with me later!"

"Let's train later on!"

"…In any case," Adeku interrupted, and let out a long sigh. "…I was unable to do it. I couldn't beat N."

Everyone was silent, and then Pearl picked up some of the rubble that lay on the floor, tossing it at Adeku. "Begone, mountain man!"

Adeku looked up at them, grinning. "…Ha! Thanks there, young lady! Ahem… you guys. I want you to go after N and stop him."

"Oh snap."

"You kids are the last line. If you can't stop him… no. You guys _will_ stop him. Please. Make sure that we don't get separated from Pokémon!"

Brendan snapped his fingers and went, "Oh, snap!" And Pearl punched him upside the head. Sadly, it had no effect.

"Say what? You want us to…?"

Adeku nodded at Danny's question. "We can't let this catastrophe happen. I failed to beat N, so I have to leave it up to you guys."

"Saaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy whaaaaaaatttttttt?"

Pearl turned towards Danny and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Get a hold of yourself, man! You can't die on us now!"

"Saaaaaaaayyy whaaa-" Danny abruptly stopped, like a broken record. Now she stood there with a dumb expression on her face, drooling out of the side of her mouth.

"Ew," Pearl said, pulling her hands away before the drool got to her.

"I think you broke her, Pearl."

"Yeah… Oops."

Sometime later, after Danny recovered from being broken, they began to head up the stairs that N had used to get up to the castle. The stairs weren't very wide, so they had to head up it in a single file line. Regardless, they all hurried up the stairs, leaving the champion's room behind, being careful not to fall off to the destroyed ground below them.

Touya was the first to get inside the castle, hopping down onto the blue, tiled floor, and helping the rest of his friends hop inside. Once they were all in, they turned around and walked out into the room. The walls were white, and there was a break in the wall that led to another hallway behind it.

Oh, and there were six old men in funny looking robes there.

"One of these things is not like the other!" Danny sang. "One of these things just doesn't belong!…"

The first old man stepped forwards. "Those who obey the heavens live. Those who defy the heaves perish."

The second stepped forwards. "There is honor in the obsolete…"

"Know one without knowing two," the third old man said as he stepped forwards.

"If you make a mistake and do not correct it, that is a second mistake," the fourth said and, predictably, stepped forwards.

The fifth stepped forwards. "Superior men understand what is right. Inferior men understand what will sell."

The sixth, and final, stepped forwards. "There are-"

"What was the point of stepping forwards?" Danny interrupted. "What's this? You guys lining up for a mug shot or something? 'Officer, the criminal is that guy right there! Take him away!' Like that?"

The six old men suddenly broke apart from their line, surrounding the group of children. The first old man, the one in a red clock, started talking.

"Now then… if anything should happen to our king, it would be disastrous. Lord Geechisu's perfect plan shall not be destroyed! If you wish to stop Lord N, you'll have to defeat us!"

"…Um… what? You're joking, right?"

"We do not joke! Now, this is where your interference shall stop!"

As Danny and Brendan tried not to laugh, someone else's voice called out…

"Do you really think you can do that?"

Everyone looked around. "…Who was…?"

Someone jumped into the room through the entrance Touya and the others had come in through, and ran up to stand next to the children. Tipping his cowboy hat, Danny exclaimed, "Hey! It's Mr. Yacon!"

"You guys okay?" Yacon asked, glancing over the eight of them carefully before nodding, as if he just answered his own question. Meanwhile, the old men had started to back away.

"You…" one of the old men began. "You're Hodomoe's…!"

"…Humph! I'm not alone, you know!"

Danny looked back at the entrance to see that, one by one, all of the Isshu region's Gym Leaders were coming inside, lining up to stand in front of them. Shippou City's Aloe, Hiun City's Arti, Raimon City's Kamitsure, Fukiyose City's Fuuro, Sekka City's Hachiku, and Souryuu City's Shaga.

…Someone was missing, but Danny couldn't seem to remember who.

Aloe sighed. "Sorry… not only are we much stronger than you, you're outnumbered! What do you think you can do?"

"All of the Gym Leaders…!" another old man exclaimed.

"Team Plasma's actions…" Kamitsure began as she pushed back the cords of her headphones and placed a hand on her hip. "…have affected all of us. It's about time we Gym Leaders stepped up and did something."

"Miss Belle here asked us to help out if something like this happened," Arti said, placing a hand on Belle's shoulder. "And so, here we areee!~"

"…" was what Hachiku said as he stood there with his arms crossed across his chest.

"Everything's okay now!" Fuuro exclaimed. "…In case you were wondering!"

Iris hopped forwards to stand next to Fuuro. "Everyone's okay now!"

Shaga said, "Holders of the Dark Stone, please proceed."

"Th… thank you so much!" Belle said, looking at the Gym Leaders happily. She glanced back at her friends, shouted, "Let's go!~" and charged forwards, completely happy at this turn of events.

One of the old men moved then, lifting up his arm and tossing something out at Belle. It wasn't a Poké Ball, though. A heart-stopping _thunk_ was heard, and Belle stumbled back a bit, and then abruptly stopped walking.

And the entire room went silent.

"…What was…" Touko slowly began.

Belle turned around slowly, stumbling almost, as she went to look at her friends. Red dripped down the side of her face. It didn't take anyone less than a second to realize what the red was, and as Belle collapsed to the ground, her friends and the Gym Leaders hurrying to her side, Danny could only stand there in shock, watching as a pool of red quickly covered the floor.

Danny didn't move, barely heard a word anyone was saying, or shouting - _"You bastard! What the hell did you do?" "Belle! Hang on!"_ She felt her throat tighten shut, and finally remembered to breathe, and then she realized that what was happening wasn't a dream.

"BELLE!"

Danny ran as fast as she could, tripping over her feet a couple of times, finally reaching the group that'd gathered around Belle. She couldn't see a thing, not with everyone crowded together like this. How was Danny supposed to know what was happening to Belle? How was she supposed to know if Belle was okay?

She managed to catch a glimpse of what might've been Belle; Aloe had taken off her apron and was pressing it on Belle's face, but… it was already turning dark, and quickly. Danny suddenly felt nauseous and dizzy, stumbling back a step.

"B… Be… B…"

There was no way this could be happening. There was… no way. Belle couldn't be this hurt, right? Surely, everything was a dream…

…That could be right, right? There was no way a castle could rise out of the ground, no way. Adeku, the champion of the Pokémon League, definitely couldn't have lost against N. So, yes, this was all just a dream. In fact, Danny must've been really exhausted after training with Iris, so she was probably taking a nap right now, having a dream… No, wait. This was a nightmare. Not a dream. Nightmare. Dreams are good things, right?

That's right, it's a nightmare, and she'll wake up… Wake up. Come on, now, Danny, it's time to wake up. Danny… Danny…

"Danny!"

Danny blinked in surprise, looking up to see Arti standing there next to her. For some reason, Danny had covered up her own ears… but why was Arti here? No… The scenery hadn't change. Not a bit. She was still in N's castle, and the Gym Leaders were still here, and Belle was still on the floor…

"A… Arti… w… what…"

Hesitantly, Danny let her eyes wander over to everyone else, gathered on the floor. Aloe had removed the apron, and Belle was still bleeding, but her eyes were wide open… Was she still awake? How could she have been awake after that?

Taking a tiny step forwards, Danny felt dizzy again, and Arti held onto her arm to keep her balanced.

"I… I don't know what to do!" Aloe shouted, shaking her head around. "It won't… It won't stop bleeding!"

"Come on, we need to… we have to put pressure on it, right? That'll stop the bleeding, right? _Right?_"

"God damn it, what the hell are we supposed to do? Aloe, put that apron back on her head!"

"I… It's soaked! It won't do any good!"

"Well, just put it on there anyways!"

Danny continued walking closer and closer to where they were. Aloe noticed Danny and Arti, and said, "Don't let her see this, Arti! Get her away!"

Arti pulled back on Danny's arm, but she yanked it away, getting closer. Now she could see Belle clearly… her eyes may've been open wide, but something about them wasn't right… Was she breathing?

"B… Belle?"

Belle… didn't answer.

"Belle…?"

Again, she didn't answer.

Danny didn't recognize the fact that several others had moved out of her way. Arti was holding onto her arm again, probably to make sure that she didn't fall or… something. It didn't matter, not to Danny at least.

"Be… Belle?"

Belle didn't answer.

* * *

_Author's Notes_: Now to tell you more about it...

WHAT THE HELL HAVE I DONNNEEEE!1!one!11! I can't believe I killed her! I KILLED HERRRRRR.

...The sad thing is, I was planning this out. Ever since... um... I dunno. I always plan out things that'll happen later in stories, and then when they do, it's like "WTF?" I still can't believe I did it. I've never written a scene like this before. Well, I _have_ written a couple of death scenes in my stories, but never something where a human is physically harmed by another human while more humans watch in horror. I still can't believe I killed Belle. I don't know _why_ I chose her. I'm a horrible, evil person.

Or as my evil, b*tchy split personality who takes over the cruel plot twist section of my head would say, "It's a neccessary expense, dude. LOL. The characters in your stories are just TOOLZ for mass war. rofl. Now stfu, you little pansy."

Yes. It says that exact thing to me every time.


	66. Chapter Sixty Five

Swampert: Uh oh.

Grovyle: "Uh oh"s right. Have we reverted to the days of 2008, with the roleplaying in place of author's notes?

Swampert: Yeah, but only 'cause the author herself is busy crying her eyes out in that corner over there.

Grovyle: Why? It's not even that sad. She only thinks it's sad because she was listening to sad music while writing it.

Swampert: Are you still pissed that you haven't gotten any screentime whatsoever in this story?

Grovyle: Yes. But that is going to change very soon, because I will soon have my time to shin-

* * *

Chapter Sixty-Five

How long had Danny been sitting there, next to Belle's lifeless body? She didn't know. All she knew was… was that her friend, her best friend, was gone. She'd never come back. Never.

Why was this happening?

"Danny…"

Danny abruptly noticed that someone was standing next to her, their hand outstretched. Danny slowly looked up to see that it was Iris. Tear stains ran down her cheeks, but Iris wasn't crying at that moment. So she'd already cried. Which meant that Danny had been sitting there long enough for Iris to start crying and to stop.

"Let's go," was all Iris said.

"B… But…" Danny felt her eyes sting, and now the tears were starting again. Danny managed to look away from Iris, to see that all the Gym Leaders were busy fighting those old men, who apparently had Pokémon of their own. "…Why? Why are they all fighting? They shouldn't be fighting! I… I mean… Belle's… and they're all…" She looked back up at Iris. "…why?"

"We need to get going. We have to stop N."

"I… no! I can't! Not without Belle!"

"Danny. We have to go."

"I… I don't want to be here!" Danny said, shaking her head around. "I… I want to go home! You guys can deal with this, can't you? I don't want to be here! I want…"

"Danny."

Hearing someone's voice on her other side, Danny turned around to see Cheren, kneeling there next to her.

"Cheren…"

"Danny. I know you're sad, we all are… but we have to go."

"B-but…" Danny looked down at Belle again, and started crying. Tears ran down her cheeks and slid down her neck. "I… I don't understand! Why'd she have to die? Why does this have to happen?"

Cheren sighed, leaning over to hug Danny. "…I don't know."

"I knew it… I knew I should've let her go back home with her dad in Raimon City! B-Because… something like this was going to happen… But I told him it wouldn't! I told him I'd protect her! But I can't! I can't protect anyone! I couldn't even protect my cousins when we were attacked by a wild Pokémon!"

As Danny sobbed and covered up her face, her body shaking with every sob, Cheren simply hugged her. "…If you come with us right now, you can protect thousands of people, and their Pokémon. Maybe you weren't able to do it just now, and maybe you weren't able to do it a couple of years ago with your cousins, but right now, right this minute, you can protect everyone."

He let go of Danny and held out his hand.

"Let's go, Danny."

Danny sniffed, rubbing her face on her sleeves, and sniffed again. He was right… right now, she could protect a lot of people and Pokémon. If she sat here, crying over her best friend, then she wouldn't be able to do that. Danny might not have been able to protect her cousins, or Belle, but right now, she could protect everyone.

Sniffing again, Danny looked over at Cheren, reaching out and taking his hand. He stood up, pulling her up with him. Now that Danny took a look, all of her other friends were waiting nearby. And now she could see that they'd all been crying, too.

Danny nodded. "…Right. Cheren's right. I can… no, we all can protect everyone, from Isshu, to Hoenn, to Sinnoh, to Kanto, to Johto… even all those places in between. Sorry, guys, I didn't mean to make you wait." Danny looked over her shoulder to see Iris still standing there, and so she held out her hand. "Come on, Iris! You too!"

Iris stared at Danny. "…You know, there's something I should tell you. It's something Belle said a little while ago. We were talking about you, or rather, about you having to wake Zekrom, and I asked her, 'What would we do if Danny had to confront Zekrom alone?'

"And she answered me with 'If Danny has to go alone, then she has to go alone. There's nothing I'd be able to do about that. But as long as she knows that I believe in her, she'll be completely fine! Everything will be okay! Because I believe in Danny, that's why!'"

Danny was speechless. She looked down at the ground, feeling like she was going to start crying again. However, Iris smiled. "I was waiting to tell you that while from that. I didn't expect all of this to happen so soon, but it doesn't matter," she said, and grabbing a hold of Danny's hand. "Let's go!"

Danny nodded, and the three of them quickly walked over to where their other friends waited.

They walked along down the hall in silence, and occasionally one of them would sniff. But no one said a word. Danny noticed that Touko and Pearl's eyes were bright red from crying, Touya was hiding his face underneath his cap and had his shoulders hunched up, and Brendan was the only one with a normal face that didn't look like he'd just cried.

Walking up a flight of stairs, they came out onto another hallway. There were rooms on the left side of the hall.

"…Should we check the rooms?"

"Better to be safe than sorry. Though I have no idea what we're looking for."

The seven of them went into the first room, which consisted of a long, wooden table, several ivory colored pillars, and a couple of Plasma grunts who didn't seem to acknowledge their presence.

Danny felt a prickling feeling on the back of her neck and stepped back from them, looking up and down the hallway.

"…Come here."

Feeling like she recognized the voice, Danny followed the sound of it, approaching the next room. She felt that feeling on her neck again and whirled around to see… one of the Dark Trinity people, standing there.

"What do you want?" Danny snapped.

He motioned towards the room she was standing in front of. "…In there, you can heal your Pokémon. Another room on the next floor has a PC you can use…" And then, he randomly gave her the thumbs-up sign. "No need to worry."

"That's creepy coming from you."

"You should go in this room first and let your Pokémon rest. Then, head on into the innermost of the castle…"

"Can I punch you yet?"

"…No need to worry," he said again, and then he disappeared.

Danny noticed everyone else hiding around one of the thick stone pillars that were around the hall. "Why are you hiding there? You just let me do that and didn't do anything?"

"It's your own fault," Pearl said.

Brendan pointed at the room Danny was in front of. "He said we can heal our Pokémon in there, right? Danny, you should go in there first."

"Fine! I will!" And Danny charged into the room without a care in the world.

Brendan sighed and shook his head. "I can't believe she fell for that… nice to know she's back to being stupid again."

The room Danny ran into was just like the one they'd looked at just a moment ago. Except there were two women here, both of them dressed in long, white dresses. One had pink hair, and the other had blonde hair that was tied into a braid.

"…Um," Danny began, looking at the two women unsurely. "…Can I heal my Pokémon here?"

The pink haired woman nodded. "My name is Anthea," she said, "the goddess of love. Before you go and confront my lord N, please take a moment to rest…"

Still unsure of what to do, Danny walked over and sat down next to the woman, Anthea. Leaning back, Danny shut her eyes, trying to rest like Anthea suggested. Apparently, Danny must've fallen asleep, because when she opened her eyes again, she was laying with her head in Anthea's lap, and her friends were all there in the room.

"Rise and shine, Danny," Brendan said. "By the way, you sleep like a freaking rock or something. We couldn't wake you up at all."

"…Oh. How long was I asleep for?"

"10 years."

"Yeah, right."

"One of your friends has told us about what happened," Anthea began, interrupting what was going to be a meaningless conversation. "None of the Seven Sages ever struck me as the violent type… even so, I am sorry for your loss…"

No one said anything for a moment, until Touya finally said, "We should get going. Thanks, ladies, for helping us."

The two women both nodded in response to this, and the seven trainers left the room to continue their exploration of the castle.

At the end of the hall was a staircase heading up to the next floor, and there were no other rooms worth mentioning. Reaching the next floor, Pearl was the first one to go to the first room there, finding a bunch of computers and things in there. After insisting that she needed to get proper Pokémon for the situation, they left Pearl behind in that room, walking down the hall and looking inside the other rooms.

At some point, Touya and Danny realized that most of these rooms didn't have anything worth mentioning, so while Brendan, Iris, Cheren, and Touko looked inside the rooms, Touya and Danny just walked down the hall, heading to the next flight of stairs at the end of it.

"…Danny. I have a favor to ask," Touya began. Danny gave a slight jump at the sound of his voice, since they'd been walking in silence until he'd suddenly started talking, but she nodded in response to his statement. Touya continued. "If… I do something stupid up ahead, you'll stop me, right?"

"Something stupid? Like what?"

Touya seemed to think for a moment. "Like…"

"HEEEEYYY, GUYYYSS!"

They both looked behind themselves just in time to see Pearl crashing into them. She threw her arms around their shoulders and hugged them to herself. "Whaaaattt'cha talkin' 'bout?"

"The economy," Danny answered. Pearl reached up and yanked on her ear for a moment.

By then, the other four caught up with them, having run down the hall to catch up. "Man, Pearl," Brendan huffed, "I always thought you looked like a horse, but you run like one too!"

Pearl let go of Touya and Danny to whirl around and glare at Brendan. "WHAT'D YOU JUST SAY?"

"Brendan," Cheren began and put a hand on his shoulder. He pushed up his glasses. "If you value your life, you won't repeat what you just said."

And for once, Brendan was smart and did just as Cheren said.

Touya sighed, turning around to face the staircase they'd finally arrived at. He abruptly stopped. "…Whoa. Where'd you come from?"

Standing there in front of the staircase was yet another one of the Dark Trinity. Though the question was, was this the same one from the floor below, or was it a different one?

"…Lord N wishes to battle you in order to decide which one of you is a true 'hero'," he said. "This I understand. You and your friends wish to protect the world you've lived and traveled through… this, I also understand."

And then he disappeared as quickly as he'd appeared.

"Wow, I can't tell if he's more annoying that N or Geechisu," Brendan simply said.

"Whatever. Let's just go," Pearl answered, leading the way up the stairs, the other six following here. "You know, I'm wondering how the hell a place like this just popped out of the ground, and still manages to look so damn pretty. I wonder who's on cleaning duty here? Oh, Danny, one of your boyfriends is here, you three-timing dirty wh-"

At the top of the stairs stood, yet again, another one of the Dark Trinity. No one seemed to acknowledge Pearl's boyfriend comment, and they simply waited for the guy to speak.

He turned to point at a room up ahead. "In that room," he said, "lies the world that Lord N was granted with."

"Whut?"

He looked back at them. "…I've entered that room many times, but I feel nothing… Maybe you'll feel something when you enter it."

And he disappeared into thin air.

"…So," Touya began slowly. "…Should we go in there?"

Everyone else shrugged in response, and they walked up ahead to check out the room in question.

"Holy shit," Pearl said upon seeing it.

…It was a toy room. A train set was set up on the cloud printed floor, a little train running across its tracks. A mini basketball court was set up, with a tiny hoop on each end, a basketball laying on the floor. There was also a train hanging through one of the hoops. At the end of the room was a skateboard ramp, and a dartboard was on the wall. A little toy airplane swung around the room by a string. Other toys lay around on the floor.

"…Holy shit," Pearl repeated. "I… feel something."

"What?" Everyone looked at Pearl in shock. "What do you feel?"

"I… I wanna play…"

Now they were silent. "Holy crap," Brendan said, "you're stupid…!"

* * *

Loveon: N's toy room makes me giggle. Teehee.

Grovyle & Swampert: Annnnndddd she's back!

Roleplaying is funny. Just like N's toy room. Heehee.


	67. Chapter Sixty Six

_Author's Notes_: Brendan has ulterior motives for coming to N's castle. HE WANTS TO CRASH THIS WEDDING, YO.

* * *

Chapter Sixty-Six

After somehow managing to drag Pearl away from the toy room, the seven of them (six if you counted the fact that Brendan and Cheren were dragging Pearl, who still wanted to play in the toy room) ran down the hall, not bothering to look inside any of the rooms anymore, because they didn't care and they knew it was probably the same as the rooms below.

They reached the staircase at the end of the hall in record time, pulling Pearl up the steps, while Pearl screamed and cried and had a temper tantrum.

The next floor, however, was much more different from the previous ones.

There were no rooms anymore, and this hallway was a dead end. Blue banners hung down the walls, Team Plasma's emblem printed on them.

"Yaay!" Brendan cheered and clapped his hands. "It's a party!"

Pearl had mysteriously recovered from her tantrum and calmly said, "Stop that. You're ruining the mood."

They started walking down the wide hall, finding nothing but those banners with the emblem on them. There was a room, actually, up ahead, with two statues on either side of its entrance. Since that appeared to be the only room in sight, and since the hall seemed to be a dead end, they all agreed to go into that room once they reached it.

"Let's crash this wedding!" Brendan said, cracking his knuckles and grinning.

"Is it a party or a wedding?"

"…It's both!"

"Don't tell him I said this," Pearl whispered to Iris, "but I think the Isshu region's making Brendan a little crazy."

Apparently, Pearl's whispering had been loud enough for Brendan, or perhaps the entire castle, to hear. "Like you have any room to talk!" Brendan snapped. "Who just had a tantrum about not being able to play in a toy room?"

"Excuse me? You little brat, are you picking a fight with me? ARE YOU PICKING A FIGHT WITH M-"

"Guys," Touya interrupted, pointing at the doorway they now stood in front of. "Someone's coming."

"Hey! It's Dennis!" Brendan greeted the person who came out.

"I thought it was G'cis?"

"Getis?"

"Goetis?"

"Ghetsis?"

"Deeennnnniiiissss. Dennnniiiisssss."

"…It's Geechisu," the man interrupted, looking slightly annoyed as he coughed into his hand to get their attention. "…Welcome, holder of the Dark Stone. The castle that appeared as if it were enveloping the Pokémon League is a symbol…"

"Who'd you hire to keep it so dandy and clean?"

"It means that the Isshu region will change."

And Brendan chanted, "Denniiiisss. Dennnniisssss."

Geechisu glared at Brendan but continued talking, "The king of this castle is the strongest trainer in the world. He is accompanied by the legendary Pokémon. He has defeated the champion. Added to all that, his-"

"Hey," Brendan interrupted, "I defeated the champion of _Hoenn_. Doesn't that count? I'm awesomer."

"…Added to all of that, his heart burns with the desire to improve the world. If that's not what makes a hero, then what more do you need?"

"…that's what she said."

Geechisu sighed. "…Now that the stage I set, we can seize people's minds and hearts. We can bring into being the world that I… no, that Team Plasma - desires more easily than you can imagine!"

"No, I can imagine."

"We and only we will use Pokémon, and we shall rule the powerless people!"

"Can you let us by yet?"

Now that Geechisu was on a roll, he wasn't acknowledging any of Brendan's smartass remarks. "I've been waiting so long for this!"

"That's not what she said."

"I've kept my silence so no one could piece together what I planned…"

Danny whispered, "I actually had a pretty good idea of what he was planning… I'm so smart."

"Now, those painful days are at an end!" Geechisu finally ended he random babbling by whirling around to face the seven kids. "Go! Onward! Discovered whether you have what it takes to be a hero!"

"Now, throw in an evil laugh."

But Geechisu was silent, stepping out of the way of the doorway, even though the doorway was wide enough for them to have simply walked around Geechisu. But they were nice kids, so they decided to listen to what he had to say. Geechisu simply stood there looking impressed with himself, because that's how Geechisu rolls.

They walked through the tall door, entering a giant room. Water surrounded the pearl colored stone hall that went down the center of the room, and stone pillars stood in the water, stretching all the way up to the ceiling. A dark blue carpet led all the way up to a throne at the back of the room, where more banners with the Team Plasma emblem hung.

And sitting on that throne… was N.

"Who does he think he is, sitting there pretending to be a pimp…?" Brendan muttered under his breath.

"My wish… is for a world for Pokémon, and for Pokémon only," N said. "The time has come, for Pokémon to be separated from people… and they will regain their original power." N stood up from his seat and started walking down the hall, stilling talking.

"Now… it's time to settle this once and for all. My determination is absolute! I will prove the value of my beliefs, even if it means that my Pokémon friends get hurt!…" N sighed. "…Though from here, I can't hear a thing any of you are saying, and I'm sure you can barely hear me… come on over here, then!"

It was true that most of what N had said sound unintelligible, like an extremely drunk man trying to recite the alphabet. But N's request for them to come over somehow managed to come out clear. Much to Brendan's annoyance.

"Let's go, guys," Touya said, glancing back at his friends.

Nearly all of them nodded in response, except for Brendan, who complained, "I don't _want_ to! Make that gay fairy come over here instead!"

But Pearl grabbed a fistful of his hair and started following Touya down the hall, dragging a whining Brendan behind her. They walked down the hall towards N, who had also continued walking towards them.

And by some kind of odd coincidence, they happened to meet in the center of the room, where the narrow hall/platform had widened out.

"…Oh, but would you look at that?" N said upon reaching them. "It appears as though Zekrom isn't responding… You guys… none of you have become heroes. Too bad, huh? I thought at least one of you, out of all eight of you, would've been recognized by Zekrom as a hero…"

"Clearly, N doesn't know how to count," Brendan muttered, Pearl still yanking on his hair.

"I had a feeling that at least one of you, or maybe two of you truly cared for your Pokémon… But I was kidding myself. The idea of trainers getting closer to their Pokémon by battling is ridiculous!… And that's why I'm giving you two options. Challenge me and lose, or walk away and watch the birth of a new world where Pokémon are free of people!"

N finally paused his speech to raise a hand in the air. He shouted, "Come… Reshiram!"

Brendan managed to say, "Uh, oh," before the back wall, where the throne was, exploded inwards. A giant white dragon flew in with the back wall's explosion, and soared across the room before slowing down, beating its white wings to stop, and landed on the ground. Stretching out its wings, where its arms were also connected, the Pokémon leaned forwards and let out a roar.

It paused for a moment, and then its tail began to glow, bright red, orange, and yellow… and then the area around it was set on fire. The fire spun around the Pokémon, and the Pokémon let out another roar as the flames destroyed the area around it.

"Whoa, temper tantrum much?"

"So much for the castle being clean, huh? Hope you have insurance. Castle insurance."

Reshiram finally stopped the flames, and stomped the rest of the way towards them, coming to a stop behind N.

"I could say something really dirty right now, but I don't think it would fit the mood."

"Shut up, Brendan."

Something else suddenly rumbled then, and Touko's bag moved around. Everyone, N included, stared at Touko.

"Holy shit, Touko's bag is alive!"

"…Touko, did you feed your bag some burritos again?"

Touko was looking around through her bag, which was an endless pit. It was filled with all the medicine and things that Danny had bought earlier when she lent it to her for the Elite Four challenge…

…wait.

"Danny! You didn't… did you?"

"Huh? Did I what?"

N was backing away from them, then, standing closer to Reshiram, looking just as horrified as Touko. "No… no way!"

Danny looked back at forth between Touko and N. "…Huh? What? What is it?"

"You idiot! You put the Dark Stone in my bag?"

"…Oh." Danny's face was blank. "…Yeah, I did. I kinda stuck all my stuff in there, so… oops."

"It's the Dark Stone!" N cried out dramatically. "No… it's Zekrom?"

Something flew out of Touko's bag, and they all started backing away as the Dark Stone hovered in the air. Black waves radiated from t, and it shone brightly… darkness started swirling around it, and the Dark Stone started to spin, faster and faster along with the darkness…

And then, it suddenly stopped.

"Um…" Danny began to say, but the Dark Stone started to move again, so she shut up.

The stone spun around again, going even faster, and the darkness radiated around it again, forming a giant sphere around the Dark Stone. It spun around along with the Dark Stone, and it created one, big black sphere that spun around.

And there was something there, in the center of the giant sphere. Something else black, curled up into a ball, like it was asleep. Its eyes shot open, and it uncurled itself, the sphere exploding and letting it out.

The thing dropped down to the ground, letting out a loud, deafening roar once it landed. It was a black dragon Pokémon, the same size as Reshiram. But unlike Reshiram, its arms and wings weren't joined together. The Pokémon's black tail suddenly shone bright blue, and lightning sprung from its tail, creating a giant thunderbolt that destroyed even more of the room.

Finally, the thunderbolt came to a stop, and the black dragon turned to look back down at everyone, and it roared again…

No one made a single noise, not a single movement, staring up at the Pokémon in shock. N was the first one to speak, his voice quiet like he'd lost it for a moment, "…Reshiram… and Zekrom. They were once the same Pokémon… complete opposites, but the same. You guys… really are heroes now too… That Pokémon… I'll tell you what it's saying…

"'I wish to battle you. Try to make me your friend and ally.'"

No one said anything in response to this, but N continued talking, "…You guys have come this far, and you've awakened Zekrom. It wants to test you to see how powerful you are… Now… catch Zekrom, and become friends with it!"

* * *

_Author's Notes_: I'm serious, I hope Team Plasma has house/castle insurance. Since apparently legendary Pokémon like destroying it.


	68. Chapter Sixty Seven VS Zekrom

_Author's Notes_: I kid you not, this is exactly how I caught Zekrom.

* * *

Chapter Sixty-Seven

"…T…. Touya! _You_ should really be the one to catch Zekrom! Yeah, ahaha!"

"What, why me? It was _Touko's_ bag it was in!"

"Don't push this on me! Danny, _you're_ the one who put it in there, so you can catch it!"

"Well, actually, _Cheren's_ the one who told me to use your bag in the first place! Cheren, you catch it!"

"Uh, I can't. I think _Pearl_ should really do the honors. After all, she captures Pokémon like there's no tomorrow!"

"I'd prefer not to! Say, Brendan, maybe you can add this fabulous Pokémon to your team of even more _fabulous_ Pokémon!"

"Sorry, I have no room in my heart for anymore teammates! Say, Iris, you train monstrous Pokémon like this, don't you? After it, a monster like you should _really_-"

"Excuse me? Sure, it's a dragon, but… uh… hey, who're you calling a monster! I am _not_ a monster!"

"Oh, silly me, I forgot! You're a _kid_, aren't you?"

Apparently, the sudden appearance of Zekrom was only causing the seven of them to fight with each other on who was supposed to catch it. Zekrom stood there, waiting and watching, as they argued. N and Reshiram also watched with the same amount of interest that Zekrom had.

"…Wait a sec, why are we arguing about this? Danny, aren't _you_ the one who's supposed to catch Zekrom?"

"Oh, yeah, that's right, she was the one chosen… Go, Danny, go!"

Danny's eyes widened, and she shook her head around, looking like she'd faint at any moment. "I… I can't! Guys, I can't do it! I'm… I'm really scared of it! I can't do it! Uh… uh… I really think Touya should do it! Then, you and N can rule the world together as gay lovers!"

"Oh, will you quit it?" Touya snapped. "I don't want to catch it, you're the one who's gonna catch it!"

"…Touya, you didn't even deny the gay lovers part."

Touya started turning red, and he somehow managed to stammer out, "S-Shut up! Danny, you're the one capturing Zekrom! Final answer!"

Danny was back to being shocked, and looked at Touya, and then to Touko, to Cheren, to Pearl, to Brendan, to Iris, and then back at Touya again. "I… b-but…"

Pearl reached out, grabbed Danny by her shoulders, and spun her around so she could face Zekrom, who still watched them with vague interest. "Now," Pearl said and gave her a little push, "catch Zekrom!"

Danny stood there, looking up at Zekrom with her eyes wide. Oh, man, she was seriously going to fall down. And probably pass out at the same time. This was bad. This was really, really bad. At this rate, she wasn't going to be able to do anything…

"Danny. Don't worry," Brendan said. "We all believe it you, so hurry up and catch Zekrom!"

"But…"

"You have no lifelines left. You're at the million dollar question. You're aren't just going to walk away without the money, are you?"

"What…?"

"Think of it like this… Zekrom is the million dollar question. You aren't just going to walk away without the million dollars a.k.a. Zekrom, are you?"

"N-no…?"

"Then hurry up and go catch Zekrom!"

Danny sighed. Brendan's weird ass reasoning aside… what had Iris said earlier? Belle still believes in her… and Cheren had mentioned that she could save everyone in the world.

So…

Taking in a deep breath and exhaling, Danny nodded slightly and looked up at Zekrom. "…Okay! Zekrom… let's battle!"

Zekrom gave a nod, and then roared, which apparently signaled the start of the battle.

"Go, Ed!" Danny shouted, tossing a Poké Ball in the air and letting out the green Pokémon. "Psychic!"

Zekrom was much faster than Ed, and lunged forwards to strike Ed with its claws. Ed bounced off the floor and held out his arms, focusing on Zekrom for a moment, and some unseen power blasted Zekrom.

"Now use Hidden Power!"

Zekrom sent out a ray of flames at Ed, and after managing to withstand the attack, Ed gathered together several white lights to his body. The lights exploded out and rained down on Zekrom, but it didn't seem to hurt the giant Pokémon much.

"…Oh." Pearl reached into her pocket and took something out, tossing it at Danny. "Danny, I forgot! Use the Master Ball! It'll capture Zekrom automatically!"

Danny caught the purple Poké Ball and stared at it for a moment before shaking her head. "…No. I don't wanna use it! Do you have any other Poké Balls?"

After staring at Danny like she'd finally lost her mind, Pearl tossed Danny a black and yellow Poké Ball. "Use that. It's an Ultra Ball."

"Thanks!" Danny turned back to where Zekrom stood, apparently not going to attack until Danny called out another command for Ed. "…Okay. Here goes nothing…" Taking in a deep breath, Danny pulled back her arm and shouted, "Go, weird looking Poké Ball!"

Tossing it at Zekrom, the Poké Ball hit it and sucked the dragon Pokémon inside. It fell down to the ground, and started rocking back and forth. Everyone, even Brendan, was silent as the ball shook side to side, back and forth…

And then, the ball was still. Zekrom didn't pop out of the Poké Ball.

"…You're kidding me," Brendan said in disbelief.

"Are you freaking _kidding_ me?" Pearl shrieked, jabbing a finger at Danny. "How? _How the freaking hell is that freaking possible?_ It's _impossible_! This must be some kind of freaking joke!"

N seemed just as surprised as everyone else did. In fact, even Reshiram seemed surprised. After all, Danny had just caught a legendary Pokémon in less than 5 minutes.

"I mean, sure, it was an Ultra Ball, but still! No status problems, nothing! Hell, was its health even halfway down? How the freaking hell did this happen? I can't even catch a non-legendary Pokémon with just a single Ultra Ball _and_ status problem! What the freaking hell?" Pearl was currently going on a ranting spree about this turn of events. Everyone else was still stunned speechless.

Danny walked over to the Poké Ball that Zekrom was in, kneeling down and picking it up in her hands. She could see a little version of Zekrom inside of it, looking up at her. "Hey, he's kinda cute now that I look at him…" Danny said. Though no one really heard her, because Pearl's shrieking rant was still continuing.

Ed was leaning over Danny's shoulder, looking at the Poké Ball. He started speaking, or at least trying to: "Go… goo… gooodddd j-j-j-jooo…"

Before he could finish, he fainted into a blob on the floor. Though it was safe to say that Ed was trying to say "good job."

"What should I name you, huh, Zekrom? John… The name John really suits you." Danny nodded as if she were agreeing with herself. "Oh, but Steve is good, too… John-Steve? Oh, I'll ask Belle later o…" Her vision started to blur, and Danny could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

N was swaying around, stumbling back and only managing to stay up because Reshiram was there behind him. "I… can't believe it. She caught Zekrom… in less than 5 minutes."

"Do you know what the probability of that is? Like, 3 percent, I bet! 3 PERCENT! Ohhh, how the hell is this possible? WHYYYYY?"

Iris squealed happily, running over to Danny and throwing her arms around her neck. "You did it, Danny! Hahah, I knew you could do it! I KNEW IT! Hahah, you're great!… Huh? Are you crying, what's wrong?"

Danny sniffed, wiping at the tears in her eyes. "It's, uh, nothing. I just… you know… um… I was just hoping that Belle would've been here to see this."

"…Oh."

N had, at some point, started walking over to Danny. Iris noticed this and jumped up, yanking Danny up with her. Ed had miraculously recovered and popped up to float by his trainer.

"…Your Pokémon are hurt," N said. "…There's no triumph to be gained in battling a weakened opponent."

He reached into his pocket and took out some kind of spray bottle, holding it at Ed and spraying him with Ed. Ed squealed and melted down to a puddle. Still using the same spray bottle, N sprayed the Poké Ball in Danny's hand, which made Danny silently question if Pokémon could be healed like that.

N stepped back from Danny, standing by Reshiram yet again. "…Danny. Today, just earlier, you friend Belle was killed by one of the members of Team Plasma."

"What-?" Cheren ran forwards, along with Touko. "Don't talk about Belle like-"

Brendan stuck out his arm in front of Cheren and Touko, and they both ran into it. Cheren looked at Brendan with a questioning expression, but Brendan simply shook his head and motioned back at where N and Danny were. Iris was slowly walking by to stand by Brendan and the others, but she looked unsure for some reason.

"So," N continued, "surely you must hate all of Team Plasma for that. You'd surely hate their king, their ruler, for that. If you don't want to fight, you can just think about how much you hate me and Team Plasma, and that can help make you fight. In the end, it's all just-"

"…No."

"…What was that? No? What do you mean-"

"You might be Team Plasma's leader and all, but that doesn't mean I hate you."

Danny sniffed, looking up to stare at N. Now there were more tears in her eyes, but something about it seemed to shock N. Maybe it was her statement.

Her friends stood there in silence, but Touko, Iris, and Cheren seemed a little surprised about Danny's words. Touya's expression couldn't be seen, since he had his jacket's hood bunched up around his neck, and his cap was covering his face.

"It's not your fault that any of this happened, N. Belle's death was caused by one person, and one person only. I can't hate everyone who's in the same team as him just because of that. And I can't hate you because of what you're doing, either.

"N… earlier, I had this weird dream. Geechisu was bringing injured and abused Pokémon to you when you were a little kid, because you could understand what they told you. So you were raised to think that _all_ Pokémon were abused like that, and you thought that all trainers were mean like that. But that's not your fault.

"I think that, underneath the whole 'boss of Team Plasma' thing, you're a really nice person, N. So I am going to battle you, but not because I hate you. I'm going to battle you because I don't want you to separate _all_ the people from _all_ the Pokémon. That's why."

Danny sniffed again and rubbed her arm across her face. "So, N… let's battle."

N listened to Danny's words without a word, but now he was clearly shaking. Danny stared at him, wondering what the heck was wrong with him. Why was he shaking like that?

"You…" N's head snapped up, and he shouted, "YOU WILL SEE MY FUTURE! I'LL NEVER, _EVER _LOSE!"

* * *

_Author's Notes_: And N has finally snapped. Like a twig.

By the way, Pearl's reaction was almost the same as my reaction when I caught Zekrom. Except I cursed a lot more.

...Next time. The battle between Danny and N shall commence!


	69. Chapter Sixty Eight VS N

_Author's Notes_: THIS IS EXACTLY HOW THE BATTLE WENT DOWN, YO.

I have nothing else to say.

* * *

Chapter Sixty-Eight

"Reshiram, go! Attack them!"

"Ed, I need you! Help me ou-"

Just as Ed popped up from the ground, the Poké Ball with Zekrom in it opened up, letting out the black dragon Pokémon to battle. Danny stared up at it, and then glanced back at Ed, who appeared more ready to watch than to battle. Danny decided to send out her other Pokémon as well… Fire Pig, Doc, Tiger, and Hitomoshi/Ranpuraa.

"Reshiram, use Cross Flame!"

"Zekrom, use Cross Thunder!"

Zekrom was apparently the faster of the two dragons, covering itself in electricity as it jumped into the air, and then slammed down on Reshiram, just as it released a wave of flames. The flames and lightning collided, and set off an explosion that shook the castle.

Zekrom stumbled back out from the smoke that covered the area, looking pretty injured already. Fire Pig was cheering loudly, and shouted, "BOOYAH! MORE EXPLOSIONS, BABY!"

"Use Slash!" Danny yelled.

"Hah! Did you really think that could stop us?" N asked, laughing like he was a funny guy. "Hyper Beam!"

As Zekrom lunged at Reshiram and raked it with its claws, Reshiram opened up its mouth and blasted Zekrom with a giant beam of light, knocking Zekrom right off its feet. It crashed to the ground, unable to get up.

"That man went down so easily," Fire Pig said in disappointment. "But his actions will forever be remembered…!"

Danny returned Zekrom to its Poké Ball, and glanced back at Ed. "'Kay, Ed, your turn now!" Ed made a bubbling noise as he bounced over to stand in front of Danny, who quickly gave out an order: "Use Hidden Power!"

Ed conjured up several lights and had them rain down on Reshiram, who was apparently exhausted from the beam it'd attack Zekrom with. The lights seemed to somehow hurt Reshiram, but it wasn't enough to knock it out.

"Psychic!"

"Hyper Beam!"

Reshiram blasted Ed with another beam of light, and by some kind of miracle, Ed managed to keep himself up. He focused on Reshiram and blasted it with some unseen force, knocking Reshiram down to the ground. Reshiram struggled to get back up, but was too exhausted, and fell unconscious.

N bit his lip as he returned Reshiram to its Poké Ball, sending out another one in its place. "Abagoora, go! Use Bite!" he shouted as a large, blue, turtle-like Pokémon came out and lunged at Ed, biting down on one of his arms.

"Psychic!" Danny yelled. Ed was quick to blast the turtle Pokémon off of him, knocking it down to the ground. But it got back up, though it looked close to fainting at any moment just from the attack. Danny shouted out another command before N could: "Shadow Ball, quick!"

As Ed made a black ball of energy and tossed it at Abagoora, Danny was silently thankful for training with Iris earlier: not only had they taught Hitomoshi how to use Shadow Ball, but by some mysterious way, Ed learned it too. Now the Shadow Ball crashed into the turtle Pokémon, who toppled backgrounds and fell unconscious.

N quickly returned it to its Poké Ball and sent out another Pokémon, a colorful-looking, vaguely parrot-like bird Pokémon. It looked actually kind of scary, what with sharp teeth poking out its open beak. "Arkeosu, I'll go with you next!"

"Ed, switch with Hitomoshi, 'kay?" Danny said. Ed gave a nod, bouncing back to where his teammates stood as Hitomoshi came out to take his place. They both high-fived each other as they passed, and Ed melted into a puddle.

"Say," Fire Pig began, whispering to Doc, "does Hitomoshi look a little different today…?"

Doc just clicked her tongue and didn't even answer.

"Stone Edge, Arkeosu!"

"Use Shadow Ball!"

Arkeous was much faster than Hitomoshi, flinging several sharp rocks at Hitomoshi, all of which hit the lamp-like Pokémon. Hitomoshi fell down to the ground, fainting from the single attack.

Fire Pig started praying, lowering his head and mumbling, "Oh, Hitomoshi, rest in peace… She never did get to suck out many souls… Aside from Ed's, that is." At the mention of his name, Ed popped up from the ground and looked up at Fire Pig curiously.

Danny returned Hitomoshi to her Poké Ball and looked back at her other Pokémon who, aside from Tiger, were praying for Hitomoshi's "death". "Doc, it's your turn, now!"

Doc didn't look up. "Oh, hon, I don't want to. Make Fire Pig do it."

"What? No, don't force this on me! You battle him! Danny chose you, not me!"

Doc sighed, walking out to stand in front of Danny. "Now what?"

"Use Attract!"

N shouted, "Stone Edge, again!"

Doc made a face that basically suggested she didn't want to use Attract on a Pokémon like Arkeosu, but nonetheless blew a kiss at the bird/dinosaur thing. Arkeosu had already flung a bunch of rocks by the time Doc did this, and the rocks slammed into Doc, knocking her off her feet.

"You sonofa-!" Doc began and another rock hit her on the head for good measure, and she flopped down to the ground, unconscious.

"Doc has a dirty mouth, doesn't she?" Fire Pig asked, looking over at Ed and Tiger. Ed looked at him excitedly and Tiger didn't answer, as usual.

"Fire Pig," Danny yelled, "it's your turn!"

"Huh? No, I don't wanna!"

Danny sighed. "Fine! Ed, you come out!"

Ed happily obliged, bouncing out to stand in front of Danny again. "Use Hidden Power!"

"Arkeosu, use Bite!"

Arkeosu lunged at Ed, biting down on his arm, and Ed summoned the mysterious lights to come and rain down on Arkeosu. Arkeosu let go of Ed's arm, flopping down to the ground in exhaustion, but it quickly started flying around again, awaiting its next attack.

"Acrobat!" N shouted.

"Use Psychic!"

By some kind of miracle, Ed actually moved first, blasting the incoming Arkeosu with an unseen power. Arkeosu was shot backwards, skidding down on the ground and was unconscious.

"Gigigiaru," N yelled as he returned Arkeosu and sent out another Pokémon, "I choose you!"

"Fire Pig, I need you now! Please, help out, switch with Ed!"

"…Well, since you said _please_," Fire Pig mumbled, hopping out to switch with Ed. The two attempted to high five each other, but completely failed.

The Pokémon N had sent out was a weird looking one. It looked like a bunch of gears hooked together, and one of the gears actually had a face of sorts. All the gears moved together, spinning around in unison.

"Heat Stamp!"

"Metal Sound!"

Gigigiaru starting screeching, a noise that resembled metal scraping together, and Fire Pig was quick to launch himself up in the air, trying to ignore the terrible noise as he ignited himself in fire and slammed down on the gear Pokémon. Much to Fire Pig's surprise, all the gears managed to work together and shove Fire Pig off, who stumbled on the ground not-so-gracefully.

"Use Metal Sound again!" N yelled.

"Nitro Charge!

Fire Pig ignited himself again as Gigigiaru began screeching again, and Fire Pig charged towards it as fast as he could. Oddly enough, the entire room was starting to smell like bacon… or at least, that's what Tiger was thinking. Man, was he hungry… He could really go for a bacon sandwich right now…

Gigigiaru fell down to the ground, falling apart and stopping its spinning. Apparently, that was a sign that it had fainted, so N returned it and sent out another Pokémon. "Baibanira, go!" he shouted, sending out an ice cream cone-like Pokémon. It had two faces, and to be honest, it was really creepy…

"Fire Pig, switch!" Danny shouted. "Ed, go!"

As Fire Pig and Ed passed each other again as they switched, they once again tried to high-five each other. And, once again, they failed.

"Ed, use Psychic!"

"Night Slash!"

Baibanira moved first, speeding towards Ed at an incredible speed that certainly didn't match its body. Ed attempted to attack it, but for some reason, his attack didn't have any effect on Baibanira, who seemed to slash out at Ed, though it had no claws whatsoever. Ed collapsed into a puddle on the ground, slash marks visible in his puddle body.

"What? How'd that… ahh, what? It doesn't have claws, so what…" Danny looked back at her friends in confusion. "Guys! The ice cream cone has claws, I think!"

"That's the stupidest thing I ever heard," Brendan answered, getting elbowed in the side by Pearl.

Returning Ed to his Poké Ball, Danny looked back at Fire Pig and Tiger, her only remaining Pokémon. Tiger couldn't battle to save his life, and he'd probably end up rolling around like a roly-poly.

"Come on, Fire Pig! Use Arm Thrust!"

"Use Retaliate!"

Fire Pig and Baibanira dove towards each other, and Fire Pig quickly smacked the Pokémon with one of his arms. In that instant, the Baibanira faded away… showing a black and red fox-like Pokémon in its place. Fire Pig just stared at it, and the Pokémon slammed into Fire Pig, knocking him down to the ground.

"…Did Doc give me some weird drugs again?" Fire Pig quietly asked. He shook his head, getting up and running at the fox Pokémon again, this time determined to finish the attack he'd previously started. But each time he swung his arm at it, it nimbly moved out of the way. It ducked under his arm again and punched him in the stomach.

"Ahhh? What the… who's that Pokémon?"

"That's soooo not right for this, Danny."

"I think that's called Zoroark," Cheren answered, pushing his glasses up his nose. "It's ability is Illusion… it copies the appearance of another Pokémon, usually one that's on the same team as it. But the illusion is broken after it gets hit…"

Fire Pig was still trying to hit Zoroark, who simply moved out of the way each and every time, and would punch Fire Pig when he least expected it.

"Come on, Fire Pig! You can do it! Use Heat Stamp!"

"…Danny."

Danny stared at Fire Pig, who had turned around to look at her. He said, "This is a man's job. I'll beat this guy… with my own tech-"

Zoroark punched Fire Pig in the face.

"…Ow," Fire Pig said, reaching up to rub his face where Zoroark punched him. "I'll teach you to avoid my moves…!" Fire Pig dove towards Zoroark, trying to crush it with his body, but Zoroark moved out of the way faster than Fire Pig could notice. Catching himself, Fire Pig whirled around and chased after it. "GET BACK HERE!"

"…This isn't going to end, is it?" Danny mumbled.

Zoroark kicked Fire Pig's legs and tripped him.

"Nope," Brendan answered.

The fight went on like that for what felt like a really long time: Fire Pig attempting to attack Zoroark, but missing because Zoroark was much faster than him. Zoroark was the only one able to attack Fire Pig, and Fire Pig was noticeably getting more exhausted with every hit.

Zoroark slashed out at him, raking its claws across his chest. Fire Pig stumbled back and threw a punch at it, but Zoroark simply dodged it.

"Danny… maybe you should switch Fire Pig out. You still have Tiger, don't you? Can't he battle?"

"Tiger can't battle," Iris answered in place of Danny, "He just rolls around and makes weird noises when he's hit."

"I'm still wondering how the hell he even evolved…"

"It doesn't matter, though! I'm sure Tiger might be able to get off one move, at least… And that way, Fire Pig can rest a bit."

Danny finally spoke up. "…I'm not going to switch him out."

"But, Danny…"

Ignoring Pearl, Danny cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Come on, Fire Pig! You can do it!"

Fire Pig ignited himself in flames and charged towards Zoroark, who jumped over Fire Pig easily. Fire Pig skidded to a stop and turned around, trying to run back and hit Zoroark. Once again, he missed, and Zoroark spun around behind him and slashed at his back. Fire Pig fell to his knees, breathing heavily.

"Touko, does your bag still have medicine in it? We can heal Fire Pig that way… does anyone have revives?"

"Let me check…"

"No!" Fire Pig shouted as Zoroark slashed at his back again. "…If N hasn't used medicine on his Pokémon, then don't use any on me either. It's only fair."

"…Fire Pig's seriously concerned about being fair at a time like this?"

Cheren sighed, pushing up his glasses. And then, he shouted, out of the blue, "Danny, Fire Pig! Don't give up, either of you!"

"Yeah! Go, Fire Pig! You can doooo ittttt!"

"Fire Pig!" Danny shouted. "Use Heat Stamp!"

Fire Pig nodded, apparently deciding to listen to what Danny said. Covering himself in fire, he jumped up in the air and came down on top of Zoroark. Crashing into the ground, Fire Pig sat there for a moment before getting up and checking that Zoroark wasn't dead or something.

But Zoroark wasn't there.

"Retaliation!" N shouted.

Fire Pig spun around just as Zoroark was coming at him. It slammed into Fire Pig, sending the pig Pokémon tumbling down to the ground.

"Eeh? Fire Pig, are you okay?"

"Come on, Fire Pig, man! Don't be giving up just yet! Get back up, show that damn fox thing what you're made of!"

Tiger also gave some words of encouragement, which came out as muffled, unintelligible noises.

And then, a familiar sounding voice shouted, "_COME ON, FIRE PIG AND DANNY! YOU CAN DO ITTTTTT_!"

Fire Pig's eyes widened. That voice… sounded a lot like Belle's. But that was impossible… But whatever. He couldn't give up right now, right? There's no way he could give up now!

Danny felt like she recognized the other voice… but simply dismissed it as something she thought of. "Fire Pig!" Danny shouted. "Use Arm Thrust!"

Fire Pig pushed himself up from the ground, feeling like he'd just been run over by a train. Zoroark was already running at him, claws outstretched, and Fire Pig stretched out his arms. Zoroark leaped up into the air, and swung one of its claws at Fire Pig…

Who raised up an arm and stopped Zoroark's claw. In the next second, Fire Pig punched Zoroark in the stomach, sending it flying to the ground, and then he hit Zoroark a second time. A third time, and a fourth time, and Zoroark fell down on its back, trying to get back up.

Fire Pig ignited himself in flames and then casually sat down on the struggling Zoroark, the flames sizzling. Tiger smelt bacon again and got really hungry, but didn't voice his thoughts. Fire Pig stood back up, and Zoroark wasn't moving.

"I'll teach you to be McSpeedy," Fire Pig said, brushing his hands off.

"Ten years later, one of them finally faints," Brendan narrated in a narrator-like voice. Pearl, surprisingly, did not cause bodily harm to him for this comment.

N returned Zoroark to its Poké Ball, sighing. "You did well, Zoroark," he said, and took out another Poké Ball, tossing it into the air. "Baibanira, you are my last friend! Please, share your courage with me!"

The real Baibanira came out of the Poké Ball, grinning like an idiot. "Use Hail!" N shouted.

"Fire Pig, use Nitro Charge!"

Fire Pig nodded, charging towards Baibanira and covering himself in flames. Baibanira created a ball of light and tossed it up at the ceiling, where dark clouds mysteriously began to form, and hail began to fall from the clouds.

Fire Pig slammed into Baibanira, sending it crashing to the ground. It hadn't fainted just yet, and N shouted another command for it, "Use Icy W-"

"NITRO CHARGE!" Danny rudely interrupted.

Fire Pig tackled Baibanira again as it was getting up, and it fell to the ground once again. But, this time, it didn't get back up. It was unconscious.

Danny had won.

* * *

Author's Notes: I LIED. THIS WASN'T EXACTLY HOW IT WENT DOWN. CAUSE MY FIRE PIG KILLED THAT ZOROARK IN 0.2 SECONDS.

English names, English names... Abagoora is Carracosta, Baibanira is Vanilluxe, Arkeosu is Archeops (sadly, I think of pork chops when I see that name. Why?), and Gigigiaru is Klinklang. Zoroark and Reshiram are still the same.

I'm too lazy to care about the move names. Except for Reshiram and Zekrom's special moves. Cross Flame is Fusion Flare, and Cross Thunder is Fusion Bolt.


	70. Chapter Sixty Nine

_Author's Notes_: Screw you, Geechisu. Screw. You.

* * *

Chapter Sixty-Nine

"YAAAYYY! YOU DID IT, YOU DID IT, DANNY!" Iris squealed, running up to Danny and hugging her tightly. "FIRE PIG, YOU DID IT, TOO!" She ran on over to Fire Pig as well, jumping up and hugging him.

Touko and Pearl also ran over to Danny and started hugging her, cheering happily. Danny seemed at a loss as to what to do, so she just stood there and let them hug her. Touko grabbed Cheren and pulled him over to join in the hug, though he apparently didn't want to.

N had fallen to his knees, completely shocked at this turn of events. "Everything… is ruined. My dream… the dreams of Pokémon… all of it…"

Fire Pig had also started cheering and joined in on the group hug. "YAHOO! WE DID IT, WE DID IT, WE DID IT!" Tiger had also shuffled over and was trying to join in too, but he was too small, and everyone else was so ecstatic that they didn't seem to notice him struggling to hug them as well.

"…Reshiram and I were beaten," N continued quietly. "Your ideals… Your feelings… They were stronger than mine, it would appear…"

"DANNY, YOU AND YOUR POKÉMON WERE AWESOME! CHEREN, TOUYA, BRENDAN, WASN'T IT AWESOME?"

"Um…" Cheren scratched the side of his face unsurely. "…It was cool. I mean, it could've been better, but… it was good."

"Aw, someone's playing hard to get! Weren't you the one cheering them on the loudest?"

"I-I was not!"

"Don't hide the truth, Cheren. You were."

"I was _not_!"

Clearly, no one was listening to what N had to say. Except for Touya, and to some extent, Brendan, who was busy looking at his fingernails for no apparent reason. Nonetheless, N continued talking.

"Reshiram and Zekrom… Each of them choosing a different hero… Is that even possible? Two heroes living at the same time… one that pursues truth and one that pursues ideals. Could… could they both be right?"

"What's that, N?" Brendan asked, looking up from his fingernail inspection. "You said that I was fabulous and no one could match my awesomeness?"

N glared at Brendan, and Brendan glared at N. "I wasn't talking to you," N simply said. "…What was I saying, now?"

"You said something about ideals and truths being both right or something," Touya said.

"…Right. It's not by rejecting different ideas, but by accepting different ideas that the world creates a chemical reaction."

And Brendan shouted, "KABOOM!" Pearl's shoe hit him upside the head.

"DANNY! YOU'RE STILL SO AWESOMEEEE!"

"Pearl, did your shoe just fly and hit Brendan?"

"No," Pearl lied, clearing missing one of her shoes. "Oh, but…"

Pearl went silent, looking back at the entrance to the room, where someone was walking in. They all went silent, and even N paused his meaningless rambling, as the person walked towards them.

"Dennnniisss, Dennnisssss," Brendan ominously chanted.

"After all of that," Geechisu began, "do you still think you're worthy of sharing the name Harmonia with me? You worthless boy!"

"What's he talking about?" Danny whispered.

"Shh," was Pearl's answered.

Geechisu walked around the group of them, walking towards N, who stood there silently. "To start with," he began, "I spurred N into pursuing the truth. The reason we awakened the legendary Pokémon now was to give _my_ Team Plasma more power! To control the people with fear and terror!… That, at least, was well done."

Geechisu finally came to a stop in front of N, glaring down at him. N, on the other hand, was busy looking at the ground like it was extremely interesting. "After saying you wished to put your beliefs on the line and battle to see which one was chosen by the legendary Pokémon… you lost to an ordinary trainer! There really _is_ such a thing as being too stupid! Add it all up, and you're just a warped, defective boy who knows nothing but Pokémon…"

He turned back to the group of children standing there, glaring at him. "Now… Which one of you is the one who has the legendary Pokémon?"

"Danny."

Geechisu squinted at Danny for a moment, and laughed. "…Okay. Let's be serious now. Which one of you caught Zekrom?"

"…Um… Danny."

"…That's impossible!" Geechisu snapped. "She couldn't possibly be the trainer that the legendary Pokémon chose! And she certainly couldn't have beat N. Someone of her mental capacity couldn't do such a thing."

"Wanna know something even worse?" Pearl began. "She caught it with no status problems and an Ultra Ball."

"What?"

"Pearl, stop that! You're, like, adding fuel to the fire! Be quiet!"

"…That hasn't changed my goal, however. My plans have not been disturbed! In order to rule this world completely, in order to manipulate the hearts of people who know nothing, I will have N be the king of Team Plasma! But, for that to work, you - since you all know the truth - you must be eliminated!"

Someone else walked into the room, then, getting everyone's attention. It was Adeku, but he didn't say anything just yet. Instead, Cheren began talking, fixing his glasses while he did so. "You Team Plasma people claim that you want to 'rescue' Pokémon, don't you?"

"That was a lie that I needed in order to create Team Plasma. Use your head. What's to be gained from letting go of things as useful as Pokémon. Certainly, manipulating Pokémon helps people expand their possibilities. That much, I can agree with. So… it naturally follows that only _I_ should be able to use Pokémon!"

"Why you…!" Adeku exclaimed, gritting his teeth together and glaring at Geechisu. "I finally understand what your objective's been this entire time!"

"Say what you want, but even a legendary Pokémon is still just a Pokémon. Danny, so what if it chose you! That doesn't mean you're a threat. Now, wallow in the despair that is to come! I can already see it upon your faces!"

Geechisu started walking towards them, and N shouted out, "You guys…!"

"I'LL DESTROY ANYONE WHO STANDS IN MY WAY!" Geechisu bellowed. "NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO STOP ME!"

"My god, this guy's out of his mind…" Brendan muttered.

Geechisu had reached under his cloak and taken out a Poké Ball, sending out a Pokémon that Danny recognized as Desukarn… the same kind of Pokémon she'd lost to when she battled Shikimi earlier that same day. None of her Pokémon were in any condition to fight… not to mention Fire Pig's fear of ghosts.

Desukarn attacked them, sending a wave of shadow balls at them. Everyone braced themselves for the incoming attack, but it never hit them. Danny had unconsciously shut her eyes when the attack was coming towards them, but now, as she opened them, she realized why the attack had never hit them.

It was The Mighty Tiger, who had raised up a wall of light to protect them all from the attack. Who cares where the wall of light came from, or how Tiger summoned it up?

"Espeon, use Shadow Ball!"

Tiger brought down the wall of light just as another Pokémon, a small, purple, cat-like one, conjured out a black ball of Mysteriousness, and sent it flying towards Desukarn. It crashed into the mummy Pokémon.

Danny looked back at Pearl, who was the one who'd shouted out the attack for Espeon. Pearl walked in front of them all. "Don't worry, guys! I'll face this guy… so just relax!"

Brendan had walked on over to stand next to Pearl, sending out his Swampert. "And I'll help. Besides, I've been wanting to kick this guy's ass for a while now…"

* * *

_Author's Notes_: And so we use Tiger's full name for the first time in I-don't-know-how-many-chapters. And he's actually able to do something. And Pearl apparently has an Espeon. So yeah.

I wonder how your Pokemon get healed before the battle with Geechisu? I mean, with the battle with N, he clearly heals your Pokemon beforehand... but then your Pokemon are magically healed again.


	71. Chapter Seventy VS Geechisu

Grovyle: I get my time to shine...!

Swampert: No, you don't.

_Actual Author's Notes_: I AM PERFECTION! = best line EVER. Along with shorts that are delightfully comfy to wear.

Also, this is the last chapter. There's also the epilogue, which I'll post a bit after this.

* * *

Chapter Seventy

"Grovyle, use Leaf Blade!"

"Glaceon, Helping Hand!"

"Dragon Pulse!"

As Pearl and Brendan's battle against Geechisu continued, their friends, along with Adeku, watched the battle in silence. Geechisu's Pokémon, a blue and black dragon with two heads where its hands would be, fired out an oddly colored laser at Grovyle and Glaceon. The beam slammed into Grovyle, knocking him down and out.

Brendan returned Grovyle to his Poké Ball and sent out his only other Pokémon, Swampert.

"I didn't know Pearl knew how to battle," Danny whispered.

"Yeah, I thought she just captured Pokémon and ordered us around…" Touko whispered back.

Pearl didn't even glance over her shoulder as she said, "I can hear you two, you know. Shut up."

Brendan looked over at his sister and gave a slight nod. She nodded back.

"Sazandora, Hyper Beam!"

"Glaceon!"

"Swampert!"

"Use Ice Beam!" they both shouted.

As Sazandora fired out another beam at the two Pokémon, both Glaceon and Swampert moved out of the way, opening up their moves and forming a small, blue, ball of light. They fired it at Sazandora, and the two ice beams crashed into it, covering it in a thin layer of ice. Sazandora fell down to the ground, unable to get back up.

Geechisu was completely shocked at this turn of events. "My… My calculations… No! My careful schemes! The world should be mine!"

"Yeah, but you let your ego get the best of you and you decided to face the two of us at the same time," Brendan answered, and started inspecting his fingernails again. "I'm awesome, aren't I, Dennis?"

"High-five me, brotha!" Pearl shouted, holding her hand up in the air. Brendan did so, and Brendan's Swampert bounded over to them and held his hand up in the air.

"Me too! Me too! I wanna high-five!"

Geechisu was now glaring at them, still rambling on. "I created Team Plasma with my own hands! I'm absolutely perfect! I AM PERFECTION! I am the perfect ruler of a perfect new world!"

"Did he seriously just say 'I am perfection'?" Swampert asked.

"Swampert, at times like this, it's best not to question things."

"…Now, N," Adeku began, glancing over at the green-haired boy. "What do you think of the relationship between people and Pokémon? Do you still think we should be separated?"

Everyone, Geechisu included, turned to look at N, who seemed to be hesitating for a moment, and then he looked down at the ground, not answering Adeku's question. Geechisu started laughing loudly, like something Adeku asked was hilarious.

"Since I couldn't become the hero and obtain the legendary Pokémon myself, I had prepared someone else to do it for me… and that's N! He's nothing more than a monster who can't understand humans because he doesn't have a human heart himself! Do you think you're going to get through to a screwed up person like that?"

Brendan sighed. "You know… I don't even like N, but I can tell that you're being a real jackass right now. If there's anyone here that doesn't have a human heart, it's _you_, Dennis. Right, Adeku, or whatever the heck your name is?"

"That's true," Adeku grumbled, nodding his head in apparent agreement. "He's saying some terrible things…" He turned back to N, then, and continued talking, "N. Forget about what he's saying. You were only be used by Geechisu for his own, selfish needs. That's why the legendary Pokémon chose you to be the hero, not him."

N finally spoke then. "But… I… I'm no hero!"

"Is that so?" Adeku asked. "Reshiram seemed to be getting along fine with you… What you and Reshiram going to do from now on… That's important, wouldn't you say?"

N shook his head and looked down at the ground. "…Acting like you understand… Up till now, we've all been fighting over our beliefs! And despite that… why?"

"N… even if we don't understand each other, that's not a reason to reject each other."

Swampert whispered to Brendan, "Are those two gay? 'Cause the way they're phrasing these things is making me think so."

"Sometimes, I wonder the same exact thing," Brendan whispered back.

"There are two sides to any argument," Adeku continued.

"Unless you murdered someone on camera," Swampert said. "Then, you're screwed."

But, alas, no one responded to Swampert's statement except for Brendan, who was giggling like a schoolgirl.

"Is there one point of view that has all the answers?" Adeku asked.

"THE CAMERA," Swampert responded.

"That's what you should think about," Adeku finally finished. Swampert started clapping loudly like he was stupid, but he slowly came to a stop when no one else joined his clapping. "Now… who wants to help take Geechisu away to the police?"

Swampert practically galloped over to Adeku, waving his arms in the air, shouting, "ME! PICK ME! PICK MEEEEEE!"

"…What's that noise?" Touko interrupted. They all went silent, listening for whatever Touko was talking about… she certainly wasn't talking about the wind blowing outside the giant hole in the back of the castle room.

No… it was footsteps. Someone was running down the hall.

"Wait a second! Wait up! Stop running so fast!" someone shouted.

Someone came to a clumsy stop at the entrance, and promptly shrieked, "YAY, BRENDAN AND PEARL!" Brendan's ears started bleeding, but he didn't seem to notice, because he was busy staring at the girl clapping her hands much like Swampert had been doing a moment ago.

It was Belle.

"And the author has reached troll status," Swampert quietly reported.

Belle's eyes widened as all of her friends came charging towards her. Before she even managed to say, "What's the matter?" she was tackled by Danny, Touko, and Iris, the three of them hugging her tightly. Pearl, Touya, Brendan, and Cheren followed after, though Brendan wasn't really joining in on the hug.

"Are… Belle, are you okay? How're you even…?" Cheren asked.

"Come on, don't give me the same questions everyone else already asked me!" Belle answered, sticking out her bottom lip. "…Kamitsure told me everything already. She said I was dead… But, but, look!" Belle reached up to her forehead, pushing back her hair. There was blood, dried there, but there was no injury. "See? Nothing!"

"What the… how's that even possible?"

"Well, my cuts always _did_ heal really fast when I was a kid…" Belle mumbled. "Oh! But then, we had my Musharna and Caitlin's Musharna use their psychic powers to show us what was going on up here! Brendan, Pearl, you guys were awesome, battling Dennis like that!"

Geechisu seemed annoyed by Belle's usage of the name Dennis in place of Geechisu, but he remained silent.

"And Danny…" Belle put a hand on Danny's head and ruffled up her hair. "You beat N, _and_ you caught Zekrom!"

And then Danny was crying hysterically, burying her face in Belle's shirt, hugging her tightly as she cried. Iris and Touko started crying as well, and even Pearl had tears welling up in her eyes.

Whoever had been chasing after Belle finally arrived there as well: it was Fuuro, and she just stared at the group of kids, and then glanced over at Adeku, and then at Geechisu and N. "Um…"

"Well, Miss Fuuro, how about you help me take Geechisu away?" Adeku asked. "Kids, you come along as well. Can't be standing there forever."

Fuuro and Adeku left the room first, taking Geechisu along with them, the latter not seeming to put up a fight against the two. Belle, Danny, Iris, Touko, Touya, Cheren, Pearl, and Brendan followed after them, the girls having gotten ahold of themselves enough to start walking.

"Have you nicknamed your Zekrom yet?" Belle asked as they left the room. "Maybe you should name him Alphonse! Al for short."

"I was thinking of John, actually…"

"Ooh, that's a good name too!"

N was the only one left in the room, staring down at the ground in silence, barely acknowledging that he was alone in the room. He didn't know how long he stood there, but eventually, someone came back to the room.

"N? You coming?" Touya asked.

N looked up, and then back down at the ground. "…I'd like to talk with you for a moment."

Touya stood there in the doorway, silent and waiting for N to get on with his talking.

"…When I met you and your friends in Karakusa Town, it was your Pokémon's voice that spoke to me first. Albeit, it was Danny's Pokémon who was demanding to battle, but your's was the one first spoke.

"It wanted me to come over to you guys because your Mijumaru knew that you were lonely. Mijumaru felt the same way as you, because he was the only Mijumaru in the group. He knew you felt lonely because no one noticed you, and so he felt that you two come become good friends.

"Up until that moment in Karakusa Town, I'd never met another Pokémon that felt like that towards its trainer. In fact, all of your friends' Pokémon surprised me. They all seemed to be getting along fine, and they all liked their trainers.

"The next time I ran into you, I noticed that you and Mijumaru were even closer, having become better friends. And even though they all learned how to talk, I could still hear what Mijumaru was feeling in his voice: he was happy that he was finally able to communicate with you, but he still felt that you were lonely.

"And sure enough, when you and I went on the Ferris wheel together, you still seemed lonely when we talked, because no one noticed you very much. But when you stood up and protected everyone at the park, you didn't seem to care that no one noticed you. So long as you could protect them, you didn't care. And Mijumaru felt the same.

"You know, I actually wanted _you_ to be the one to catch Zekrom and rule the world with me… because you and I felt the same, that there were plenty of humans that mistreated Pokémon. You and I both felt that no one would ever understand us, but I felt like I finally understood someone, an actual human being.

"But when I told Geechisu that, he wouldn't listen to my request. He told me, 'there can't be two _kings_ to rule the world!' and so I chose Danny instead, because her Pokémon's voice had surprised me as well.

"And as I journeyed across the region, I was shocked to find that, aside from you and your friends, there were plenty of other trainers whose Pokémon genuinely liked them.

"There was no one that someone like me, who could only understand Pokémon… no. I didn't really understand them, either… but there was no way that I could measure up to you, who'd met so many Pokémon and was surrounded by friends.

"The champion has forgiven me… so what I should do now is something I should decide for myself. And so, Touya…"

"…N."

N finally stopped talking and looked over Touya. His face was hidden by his cap, and his shoulders were hunched up, the hood of his sweatshirt hiding even more of his face. But then, Touya's shoulders lowered, and he looked up to grin at N.

"Let's go, N," he said, holding out his hand.

N just stared at him for a moment and said nothing.

"Touya, hey." Brendan was suddenly there as well, and spotted N standing there, and looked down at Touya again. "What're you doing? Confessing your love to each other? That's gay, in more ways than one."

Touya sighed. "No. I'm telling N to come with us. He doesn't have anywhere to go, so I was hoping he'd come with…"

"Oh," was all Brendan said. He looked back at N and grinned. "Well, what're you waiting for, N? Get your skinny ass on over here."

N looked shocked at Brendan's words, but he quickly nodded, walking on over to Brendan and Touya. He took a hold of Touya's hand, and the three boys left the destroyed room to head on back through the castle.

* * *

_Author's Notes_: Swampert spoke the truth. I am trolling. I couldn't just kill Belle off forever, so I brought her back with MAGIC. Now you can kill me, if you'd like, because I want to kill myself too, just for including Brendan being slightly nice to N.

Whatisthisidontevenknow...


	72. Epilogue: Black and White

Author's Notes: And so, I present with you the epilogue that I included just because uh yeah. I wanted it to end like this, AND YER GONNA LIKE IT.

Um... I'll include more stuff at the end of the chapter.

* * *

Epilogue

_Dear Raven,_

_I've been in the Isshu region for nearly 7 months now. Though I really need to be heading back to Sinnoh since the Pokémon League tournament will be starting there soon. I'm sure I can go at the last moment, since there's still the tournament prelims and all, but…_

_Anyways, I was thinking that maybe you should come to Isshu as well? I'm sure Caitlin would be delighted… she can still go on and on about the time at the Battle Frontier just from the mention of your name._

_But I was really surprised when your cousin actually came here to Sazanami Town with a bunch of other people. She was taking pictures and stuff… Oh, but she was a real help during the huge crisis thing involving Team Plasma that happened in October. She actually caught a legendary Pokémon! And nicknamed it, of all things, John-Alphonse. She also battled me the other day, but I won! But would you expect any less of the Sinnoh region's champion?_

_Well, I hope you're doing well. If you can't get a hold of me, you can always contact Caitlin. Just let me write down her address. Oops, did I just write that out? Silly me…_

"CYNTHIAAAAAA! COME ON OUT AND PLAY WITH USSSSS!"

"Okay, just a second!" Leaning back in the chair she sat in, a woman with long, blonde hair shouted that answer out to the people outside. The front door of the little villa was wide open, and so were all the windows. The sounds of people playing around outside and the ocean crashing along the beach filled the entire town.

Even so, it was really hot inside of the house. And yet, someone still managed to lay fast asleep under the covers of the bed in there, oblivious to the summer heat and the noise outside.

"Hey, Caitlin, rise and shine!" the woman said, getting up and moving over to the bed. She nudged the lump that lay under the covers and reached down under the bed, pulling out a suitcase and opening it up. "How about you write a letter too? Hmm… which one should I wear? The black swimsuit or the white one?"

"I'm sleeping," the person in the bed grumbled.

"Isn't that what you're always doing? You can't even blame it on jet lag anymore… we've been here for a while now. So, anyways, black swimsuit or white?"

"I don't care. I'm sleeping."

"Well, I think you should care. I mean, it's not going to end nicely if I just decide to go out there with nothing on… so if you don't choose a swimsuit, that's what I'm going to do."

"Leave me alone."

The woman started changing into one of the swimsuits, and once she finished, she grabbed the bed sheets and tore them off the bed, leaving the girl underneath uncovered. She squealed and squirmed around like a fish out of water.

"…So you chose the white swimsuit," the girl said, finally stopping her fish-out-of-water act.

"Yeah. So, you should write a letter to Darach. I already wrote one to Raven, but if you wanna write one to her too, go ahead. Once you're done, come out and play, okay? If I find you asleep again, I'm gonna drag you outside! Bye!"

The girl sighed as the woman, Cynthia, left the house and ran on outside, shouting something that sounded like, "KAWABUNGA!"

She walked over to the desk that Cynthia had just been sitting at. There were multiple stationeries set out, and one already had writing on it, but it didn't look finished. Sitting down, the girl picked out a stationery she liked, took the pen that Cynthia had been writing with, and started writing on the paper.

_Dear Darach,_

_I'm doing fine here in the Isshu region. I hope you've stopped your panic attacks by now. Please send me a letter soon. I'd like to know how the other Frontier Brains are doing. Try not to cry all over the letter._

She paused, twirling the pen around a couple of times and trying to think. If she said too much to him, he'd think the world was going to end and would start going in hysterics. So she simply signed it with "From, Caitlin" and took out another piece of paper, starting to write another letter, this one addressed to a different person whom she could write to as much as she'd like.

_Dear Raven,_

_How are you doing? I hope you're fine, wherever you may be right now._

Caitlin scribbled away on the paper, writing about everything that had happened from when she and Cynthia had arrived in the Isshu region together, up till the Pokémon League tournament that was ruined by Team Plasma.

Something flew on into the house while Caitlin was writing, and she caught a glimpse of it - a beach ball - as it bounced off the wall and smacked her upside the head. The pen scribbled all over the place, and when Caitlin looked at the paper, it had scribbles all over it.

The letter. That she'd just wrote.

Ruined.

By a beach ball.

"Hey, Caitlin, sorry! You okay?" Cynthia asked as she walked into the house to get the ball. "Still writing that letter, huh?"

The ball suddenly burst, the air flying out as a giant hole was suddenly there on the ball.

"…My letter…" Caitlin grumbled, standing up from her seat, gritting her teeth together. The papers on the desk started to flutter and move by themselves. "…My letter…!"

Cynthia quickly turned around and left the house as fast as she could, shutting the door behind her. Caitlin calmed down as soon as the door shut, paying no heed to the destroyed beach ball that lay on the floor, or the fact that stationery now lay around the room.

Caitlin sat back down in the chair, getting a third piece of stationery out. She didn't have the patience to write out everything she'd written again.

"Hey, Caitlin."

She looked over at one of the windows, where a boy and two girls stood. Brendan, Pearl, and Danny. "Yes?"

"You writing a letter to Raven?"

"Yes…"

"Remember, don't use big words. Her mental capacity can only process simple, small ones."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Tell her to send a watermelon," Pearl said.

"What the hell, Pearl?" Brendan asked. "If you want a watermelon, go freaking buy one!"

"I don't have the money."

"Liar."

"Danny, give me some money."

"Don't fall for it, Danny, she's evil!"

"Pardon? What was that you just said, Brendan?"

"I said you're a psychotic woman, whose gender may or may not be questioned, who also wants a watermelon sent via mail because she wasted all her money buying Poké Balls, and she's so cheap that she won't even write a letter requesting it herself."

And so, Brendan ran like hell before Pearl managed to process everything he'd just said. When she finally did, Pearl ran after him at the speed of light.

Caitlin smirked, trying not to laugh. Danny, who'd been watching Pearl chase Brendan, turned back to Caitlin. "What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing. I was just thinking that those two are polar opposites. It's hard to believe they're related."

"Yeah, they really are complete opposites! It's kind of like… um…"

Caitlin gave a little smile, turning back to the paper in front of her.

"It's just like black and white."

* * *

Yes, I had to end it with a god awful cheesy line like that. I HAD TO, DAMN IT.

And so, seventy-two chapters later, I finish it. I FINISHED IT, AHAHAHAH! It's just _four_ chapters shorter than Hoenn Tales! And _fifteen_ chapters longer than Sinnoh Tales! AHAHAHAHAH!

*cries manly tears of MANLINESS*

For those of you who stayed with me over the long, painful journey of WHUT that this is... I applaud you! For those of you who reviewed... I APPLAUD YOU! AND I THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Because this story has the most reviews out of any of my stories, and I'm so EFFING HAPPY that I'm going to talk in caps at RANDOM INTERVALS!

But anyways. I promised a sequel, and a sequel there shall be. But... I'm going to try and finish some of my other stories beforehand, namely The Wish, which is in desperate need of updating and who has people waiting for me to get off my ass and update it. And then, I need to update some of the chapters of the original Hoenn Tales, and I'll probably delete that rewrite one I posted, because I figure that I should just stick to manually changing the chapters and I don't know what I'm talking about.

Anyhoo, for those of you wondering what the sequel's gonna be about... DRUGS, CHICKS, AND JAIL. I'm kidding. I've got a name for it, too: World Tales. Because it's going to be jumping around locations a lot, and it's gonna be one, big BAD END.

And then, things are gonna get weird. Because I just love weird things like that. Plot wise, that is.

Grovyle: I hate you. You made me faint during the final battle with Dennis.

ANYWAYS. Everyone, thank you so, _so_ much for reviewing, faving, and reading this damn story! I LOVE YOU ALL, PLEASE MARRY ME!

Ironically, I'm listening to a song called "with best wishes".

And so, for now, goodbye.


End file.
